5 Reasons Microsoft Dynamics GP is the “People’s Choice”

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 by Julie Stankey

Recently Barry Knaster, a fellow contributor to the ERPsoftwareblog, wrote an entertaining and insightful post about which awards Microsoft Dynamics GP would win if they were up for a Golden Globe or Critics Choice award.  Personally, I’ve always thought that best measure of entertainment is the People’s Choice awards.   Afterall, what good is being an entertainer if no one wants to watch you?  Likewise, an industry leading business management software solution doesn’t do any good unless people choose to use it!

People around the world have cast their votes by choosing Microsoft Dynamics GP and are using it to enhance their business’ operations and financial management every day.

So, what makes Microsoft Dynamics GP “The People’s Choice” for their businesses? 

We asked five of our clients what motivated them to chose Microsoft Dynamics GP and how their choice has affected their business.  Here are their responses:

Built for People to Easily Adopt and Adapt to

Erie Shipbuilding, a manufacturer of ship in Erie, PA, understood that the interoperability between Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft Dynamics GP would help speed adaption and help users in accounting and business management functions to be more productive.

“To support the sophisticated project management and accounting required by our growing business, we turned to Microsoft Dynamics GP,” says Kenneth Boothe, Jr., Program Manager for Erie Shipbuilding. “With Microsoft Dynamics GP, we can actually see expended labor hours per task on a project.  This has helped us distribute our workload in a much more manageable way.”

Helps People Access the Right Information

“We really needed an application that could slice and dice the operations.  We have an awful lot of stakeholders we have to please including 110 different public funders, several hundred individuals and a couple of dozen private insurance companies,” says Tom Browne, CFO for Wingspan/Bellefaire JCB, a not-for-profit organization in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Wingspan implemented Microsoft Dynamics GP business intelligence solutions including Business Portal and began monitoring divisional targets using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).  Because each program is unique, it is difficult for Wingspan to implement a centralized performance measurement system.  Customized views using Business Portal allow individual program managers to track the information most relevant to them.

Maintains Microsoft’s “People-Ready” Reputation

BioStorage Technologies, an Indiana-based Biopharma Services company, recognized that it would have to invest in smart technology to streamline their billing process.  “A goal of the project was to ensure that our customers received accurate, timely invoicing supported by a transparent, secure and easily maintainable database,” says Mike Reffeitt, Vice President of Global Finance and Human Resources. 

“We certainly were aware of the reputation of Microsoft Business Solutions, and as we evaluated the Microsoft Dynamics GP product, we knew it would work well for us.  The time savings were immediate and significant.  We now have one person preparing our invoices.  From start to finish it takes about a week.  Without Microsoft Dynamics GP, it would easily take four to five people all month to complete the process…We’ve achieved our goal – our customers are pleased.”

SQL Integrations Enable People to Focus on Growing Revenue

“[Microsoft] offers a powerful integrated ERP, project accounting, manufacturing and CRM solution with a SQL database,” said Jean Ockuly, Vice President of Finance for Neundorfer, Inc., a Clean Tech company in Northeast Ohio. 

By utilizing the Microsoft SQL Server, Neundorfer no longer needs to spend up to 8 hours each week creating the company’s most vital report.  Now they can monitor cash flow, projections, total backlog and other key performance indicators in real time. 

Partnering with the Right People to Maximize the Benefits of the Software

LPK, an international design and branding agency in Cincinnati, Ohio, had narrowed their ERP system search down to three finalists.

“Any of the systems could have worked for us, so we turned our focus to the partner relationship and network of users that would be available for each of these finalists,” says John Keller, Financial Services Manager.  “Socius impressed us from the very start.  Their process-focused approach to the project assured us they were best able to deliver a long-term software solution and make the switch a successful one.”

Socius implemented an integrated solution for the company utilizing the Project Management component of Microsoft Dynamics GP.  Keller is confident that LPK made the right choice – both in the software it selected and the business partner who implemented the software.

“With the support of Socius, this solution provides us with unlimited abilities to measure, report and act on accurate and timely data…Socius has an amazing team that has succeeded on every request for integration – this is key to maximizing the software’s capability.” 

If you are like LPK and are looking for some help determining which ERP solution would be the right choice for the people in your organization, request a free business strategy assessment from Socius!