Over the last two weeks, PrintVis consultants hosted intensive certification training for more than 20 of our Partner colleagues. They attended from multiple companies, time zones and, along with their different PrintVis instructors, endured rigorous course lessons on implementing all aspects of the PrintVis MIS/ERP solution. It was hardcore to say the least, with each day’s topics and work groups lasting from morning through evening (12-hour workdays for most!).
Continuous Improvement
Just as the PrintVis solution undergoes near constant development, our Partner network is always growing, learning, seeking continuous improvement. Newly-certified consultants want to implement PrintVis and its Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central platform with a standard, proven approach using their experience with print companies of all types and sizes.
Implementing a new software solution in your organization is a daunting task, that’s nothing new. To achieve success, many preconditions must be met. And on any of those conditions, something can easily backfire. However, many misunderstandings and conflicts about the implementation of MIS/ERP systems can be traced back to lack of clarities about the division of tasks.
It’s a simple question: Who does what?
Unfortunately, both software purchasers and vendors often fail to create this clarity on time, and suffer all the associated consequences.
An implementation project comprises several cost categories, such as licenses, maintenance, various services and hardware. With the introduction of the cloud model, it has become increasingly easy to determine the costs for licenses and maintenance. This also goes for the infrastructure and the hardware where by now a high degree of standardization has taken place.
That only leaves the services. A crucial point here is that every stakeholder has their own set of expectations regarding this aspect. As a customer, you probably compare new proposals to what you experienced with your previous vendors, and your vendor uses their own usual approach as a frame of reference. And from this frame of reference, they compose their quotation. In this way, you are missing each others point!
A Good Project Plan Includes Delegation of Duties
For every implementation, there are activities that can be delegated to either the vendor or to you as the customer, such as writing up a set of working instructions and training the end-users. Of course, your vendor can do this for you. But your well-trained super users can also excellently perform this task! In this respect, it is important to determine what you want in an early stage. Do you have the time and the capacity to do these kinds of tasks yourself? Do your employees have sufficient affinity for these tasks? Or do you prefer to focus on your core tasks and outsource those jobs?
Most vendors describe the assignment of tasks in their project plan, but often this is only written up once the contract has been signed and the budget has already been determined. The challenge for both the vendor and you as the customer is to address the task division before the budget is determined and before expectations start taking shape. And this certainly doesn’t serve only your vendor’s interests!
We advise you, therefore, to aim for clarity even in the preliminary stages – and no longer to accept proposals in which a focus on ‘task division’ is lacking. This way you’ll lay the foundations for a smooth procedure during your next MIS/ERP implementation.
Speaking of which, could your next software implementation be your last? That’s certainly one of our goals at PrintVis. To provide print companies such as yours with a complete, robust and powerful solution you’ll never outgrow.
Get Going with a Free Trial of PrintVis Today
Want to take PrintVis and Business Central for a test drive? Great news – PrintVis Cloud is now available as an app with a free trial. Go here to get started today!
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