Business Intelligence

Professional Services employees make up a large demographic of our workforce.  They are architects, engineers, contractors and consultants like me.  We are a highly mobile workforce, often flying to work on projects or working at our client’s offices.  This creates a need for us to be able to manage our work, projects, resources and time from anywhere.  However, most solutions for project management, until today, have been legacy technology with very little mobility built in.

Today, Acumatica’s version 3.0 is available.  Acumatica has significantly augmented their application with numerous new features that improve business intelligence, customer processing and most notably Project Accounting.  Project Accounting and its associated capabilities such as time and expense entry, allocation processing, billing and project management are critical functions for someone in a professional services role.  For the professional, mobility is critical. 

The typical workday of a professional begins with reviewing the tasks he or she must complete.  In Acumatica 3.0, this is accomplished by viewing the Activities that are assigned to the professional in CRM.  Yes, I said, in CRM.  Under Business Accounts we now have the capability of assigning professionals to a project and task, identifying the date and time due and its billable flag.  These activities will drive the daily work of a professional and give them one-stop guidance on what must be completed today.  Once the activity is marked “complete”, the billable time is automatically transferred to the professional’s timecard.  This productivity advantage is sure to improve the lives of consultants and others who have previously been frustrated with having to duplicate activities into timecards for billing purposes. 

Acumatica, the company, has spent a considerable amount of time and energy with this release.  Upon my review of the project accounting system, it is apparent that true to their reputation, they have released a functionally complete system.   The system includes projects, tasks, account groupings, resource management and billing.  This is critical to the cash flow of a professional services firm.  Routinely, billings are only processed once or twice a month.  Therefore it is essential that professionals are able to quickly enter their time, accounting can quickly allocate and bill thus giving the project manager the best information on budget vs. actual reporting. 

From Project Templates to full integration of GL, Inventory and all classes of billable and non-billable time, you will instantly recognize the value of the features added for project accounting.  The advanced billing, enhanced revenue recognition and updated allocation engine will provide your business with automated billing as well as revenue recognition based on completion percentage or on completed tasks.  Further visibility will give you the management of unbilled revenue and ultimate markup flexibility. 

Natively, Acumatica is browser-independent.  The Acumatica user interface will run equally well in Safari, Firefox, Chrome or Internet Explorer.  The true power is the delivery of business intelligence to the tablet, iPad or any other device that a project manager or executive uses.  The project executives can login and track the project profitability in real-time on the device they are most familiar.  Combine the browser independence with the Employee Portal and now the professional has no reason to delay their timecard and expense entry.  This means that the accounting department can bill quickly and improve the cash flow of the firm.  

For marketing, advertising and promotional firms with a Mac platform, Acumatica is your best option for a project accounting system that will run fast, in your Safari browser and will not require any special software.  This means that finally, your business can standardize on Macs, without exception, while still providing the entire project accounting functions needed.

In conclusion, Acumatica 3.0 is the real-deal in project accounting in the Cloud.  My recommendation for companies considering a new project accounting system is to work with a trusted advisor who can help you determine what your requirements are and how well Acumatica will meet those requirements.  For complete information and online demonstrations, visit www.acumatica.com

About The Author

About The Author

Robert Houdeshell is an ERP and CRM Expert with experience in Dynamics SL (Solomon) and Acumatica.  He has provided product management leadership for Solomon Software, Made2Manage Systems, FRx Software and Njevity, Inc. 

Robert’s implementation experience includes clients with complex implementations of ERP and CRM in the professional services industries.  Having a unique knowledge of product development gives Robert the ability to understand product functionality as it relates to client specific needs. 

Robert has taught numerous classes on ERP and CRM software while working as a Business Process Expert at AccuNet in Columbus, Ohio.  He created an Ohio Accountancy Board Certified training program which provided all attendees with CPE credit for the class.  

Presenting to large groups of over 1,500 attendees, Robert captivates audiences with his style, humor and informative approach. 

Robert has led large development projects for the US Department of Interior as well as the rollout of numerous ERP product releases.  He has provided technological insight into complex business problems for civic and political organizations in Colorado.  Robert is currently Vice President of Cloud Services for Njevity, Inc., an Acumatica partner and implementer in Aurora, Colorado.  

The anticipation of my first Convergence had been building up since January.  Convergence is a gathering of Microsoft Dynamics users, partners and ISV’s who come from around the world to crash a city for a few days to learn more about the Microsoft Dynamics family of products and network with fellow business product users.  As a first timer, I was warned that I would be going nonstop from early morning to early morning with a few hours of sleep in between.  That was not far off from the truth and after coming home and having some time to finally sit and reflect on the past five days, I want to share some of my experiences and takeaways from Convergence 2012. 

After an already solid two days of GPUG events, meeting up with customers and networking put behind me, Microsoft opened with their keynote Monday morning.  Upon entering the arena, it became clear how big the event was with a record attendance of over 10,000 users, partners and vendors.  The other surprising fact was that out of the Dynamics family of solutions, nearly 75% of the attendees were there for Dynamics GP as users, partners and ISV’s.  We were shown GP 2013 scheduled to release Q4 of 2012 and the improvements Microsoft has made to version GP2013 including flexibility of deployment into the Cloud.  I recently read an article put out by NetSuite titled “Time to Put GP Out to Pasture.”  Companies like NetSuite will be going on the offensive big time as GP is moving into their arena with even more deployment flexibility.  Trust me when I say this, Dynamics GP is not going out to pasture; it is going out to capture more market share.

It was also nice to hear the direction Microsoft is headed from Kirill Tatarinov, President of Microsoft Business Solutions Division and B. Kevin Turner, Chief Operations Officer.  The main theme of the morning was simplifying Business Intelligence through connectivity and mobility creating a “World of Opportunity” for everyone, not just Microsoft.  It was clear to see Microsoft’s focus was on complete business solutions that can be taken anywhere and shared with anyone.  Among the featured product releases were Windows 8, Dynamics GP 2013, SharePoint and Office 365.  It was demonstrated how you can use any of these products on any device, anywhere and the value that is created being able to connect personal and professional environments.  

Between sessions, there was plenty of time to visit the expo hall to wander and look at all of the solutions available for Dynamics products.  There were a few that I was very impressed with for both Dynamics GP and CRM.  Here is a little insight into my top two ISV’s. 

Click Dimensions is the top rated email marketing and marketing automation solution for Dynamics CRM. Click Dimensions is able to build a database of information in CRM about your prospects so your sales team can market proactively and determine the best way to approach prospects and leads.  They are a solution that I recently became familiar with and immediately saw the value they add to CRM.  It was already simple to create automated workflows and campaigns within CRM, however, at the show, they were showing me how they have simplified that process even more into a very user friendly drag and drop solution.  It is truly a product I would like to see more CRM customers using to grow their business because of the value it adds to CRM.  http://clickdimensions.com/

BI360 is a business intelligence solution for Dynamics as well as many other ERP platforms that is very impressive as well.  Recently, I have been hearing business professionals talk about the need for more insight into their business.  With all the technology available, they want a real time, simple diagnostic tool that they can use to answer the “why is this number like this” and “how do we fix it” questions.  Out of all the BI solutions I personally saw at Convergence, BI360 seems to have the best functionality and ability to provide answers by drilling down into data and information real time.  This immediate insight is extremely important for business professionals in the world we live in.  Even better, they demonstrated how easy it was to build reports in less than a minute and dashboards in less than two minutes.  http://www.solverusa.com/products/bi360

My takeaway from Microsoft and their supporting ISV’s is that technology is there to provide businesses the complete solutions they require to help their teams capture more market share and react quickly to the obstacles and challenges they face, no matter where they are in the world.  Through collaborative products and the freedom to work from anywhere, Microsoft proved their point that we are living in “A World of Opportunity.”

I ran into an issue while doing some report writing for SQL today. I was trying to round up the quotient of one integer divided by another integer. The result never rounded up. What I found was that I had to convert the dividend to a decimal. See my examples:

SELECT
Out1 = 300/24,
Out2 = CONVERT(DECIMAL(14,2), 300)/24

Out1 Out2
----------- ---------------------------------------
12 12.500000

SELECT
Out1 = CEILING(300/24),
Out2 = CEILING(CONVERT(DECIMAL(14,2), 300)/24)

Out1 Out2
----------- ---------------------------------------
12 13

Continuing the conversation about Cloud Computing, I ran into this article through a Google Newsfeed this week.  It seems to me and to the author of this post http://www.wired.com/cloudline/2012/03/personal-cloud-2014/ that some companies are not taking Cloud seriously.  Tagging onto my post from a couple of weeks ago, the author agrees with my conclusion that deploying enterprise applications through the Cloud is really the "secret sauce" (my words).  

Cloud Computing's core components have been with us for years.  Virtualization, service provider licensing, remote access, .net development platform.  However, it's only been the past few years that we, as a Cloud Computing Industry, have been able to fully deploy the Cloud.  

The next evolution of Cloud is "app-ifying" specific components of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and BI (Business Intelligence).  We have seen CRM become one of the first applications to app-ify components such as Accounts, Opportunities, Tasks and Activity Management but we must go further.  We must have specific ERP components deployed in a Cloud and Mobile platform for approvals and other tasks that should not require the user to be chained to a desk or a laptop.

BI is really one of the most impressive applications of Cloud and Mobility that can bring the most value to a company.  Imagine being able to keep your fingers on the pulse of your business through a mobile app that shows your key performance indicators on your tablet.  This is expressed by the author as:

"The new iPad may be the most impressive piece of computing hardware I’ve ever seen. Yet its true power is held back by large enterprise software corporations that cannot keep pace with the new devices designed with cloud computing in mind…. It’s as if they’ve completely ignored one of the most successful computing platforms ever built, outselling the total number of PCs its closest competitor sold last quarter."

Further, Gartner has weighed in on the overall Cloud movement with these statements:

Gartner says a number of factors are converging to make for a perfect personal cloud storm by 2014:

Megatrend No. 1: Consumerization — You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
Gartner has discussed the consumerization of IT for the better part of a decade, and has seen the impact of it across various aspects of the corporate IT world. However, much of this has simply been a precursor to the major wave that is starting to take hold across all aspects of information technology as several key factors come together:

• Users are more technologically-savvy and have very different expectations of technology.
• The internet and social media have empowered and emboldened users.
• The rise of powerful, affordable mobile devices changes the equation for users.
• Users have become innovators.
• Through the democratization of technology, users of all types and status within organizations can now have similar technology available to them.

Megatrend No. 2: Virtualization — Changing How the Game Is Played
Virtualization has improved flexibility and increased the options for how IT organizations can implement client environments….

Megatrend No. 3: “App-ification” — From Applications to Apps
When the way that applications are designed, delivered and consumed by users changes, it has a dramatic impact on all other aspects of the market….

Megatrend No. 4: The Ever-Available Self-Service Cloud
The advent of the cloud for servicing individual users opens a whole new level of opportunity. Every user can now have a scalable and nearly infinite set of resources available for whatever they need to do….

Megatrend No. 5: The Mobility Shift — Wherever and Whenever You Want
Today, mobile devices combined with the cloud can fulfill most computing tasks, and any tradeoffs are outweighed in the minds of the user by the convenience and flexibility provided by the mobile devices….

“The combination of these megatrends, coupled with advances in new enabling technologies, is ushering in the era of the personal cloud,” Gartner’s Kleynhans said. “In this new world, the specifics of devices will become less important for the organization to worry about. Users will use a collection of devices, with the PC remaining one of many options, but no one device will be the primary hub. Rather, the personal cloud will take on that role. Access to the cloud and the content stored or shared in the cloud will be managed and secured, rather than solely focusing on the device itself.”

We have to be "all in" as Microsoft has put it.  Cloud Computing will roll over those who do not get on board!  

Let us explore the future of Business Intelligence.  Last week I spoke about Windows 8 and it's impact on computing.  However, let's further explore the problems, yes problems, with Business Intelligence.

Until today, Business Intelligence has been primarily provided by Hyperion, Cognos and other solutions.  Many years back, Microsoft introduced Microsoft Analysis Services.  However these solutions have been either expensive in their software purchase and/or their implementation.  Further complicating things are the differing requirements from the user to the manager to the executive.

Therefore, we have seen an emerging trend in business solutions in which we believe you should know about.  They are:

Audience -- the audience or consumer of the business intelligence will always be the number one concern in Business Intelligence.  For example, the CEO and CFO will have a varying set of requirements of what they want to see.  The manager of purchasing will want to see something different from each other.  Thus, a real Business Intelligence solution must accommodate not only the level of the position in the company but also the information they need to make decisions.

Platform -- the platform has changed.  Built in Cubes or Analytical Processes built into the ERP system are key to giving the information necessary for users of all types.  Using Analysis Services from Microsoft, for example, is an easy and cost effective way of delivering the right information.  Therefore, some of the legacy solutions are relegated the the dungheaps of history.  Consider the power of Microsoft's PowerPivot and SharePoint Enterprise Services for delivery of real information for your audience.  

Delivery -- to the tablet, PC, laptop and phone will continue to be the wildcard in Business Intelligence.  As devices become more agnostic in nature, they will continue to proliferate the consumption of data.  Thus, delivery will require a robust ability to drill down, drill through and self guidance that is available for many apps today.  

Our recommendation for the future is to meet with a trusted advisor who will take into account the audience, platform and delivery when considering the right Business Intelligence Solution for you.