As many in the professional services industry know, Deltek is the leading provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and other software solutions designed exclusively for project-based businesses. There are more than 30,000 organizations and millions of users in over 80 countries that rely on Deltek solutions. Wow! Those are some impressive numbers.

Out of the many ERP solutions Deltek offers, the newest and most innovative ERP system is Deltek Vantagepoint. Deltek listens to its client base and continually evolves its solutions to meet their clients’ growing needs. After receiving client feedback, Deltek created Vantagepoint which is largely based on the Vision ERP system with a lot more functionality. However, many small to mid-sized firms view Deltek solutions as only for large firms. So, let’s see what benefits Vantagepoint has to offer these smaller firms?

Deltek Has a Partner Program to Support Vantagepoint

A common thought is that Deltek only supports larger firms as clients, and there is concern that smaller clients might not receive quality customer care. However, this is not the case. Deltek has an extensive network of trusted partners that can help you identify your firm’s unique needs and successfully implement your new Vantagepoint ERP system. By utilizing a Deltek trusted partner, your firm will get the individual attention that is required to maximize the benefits and value of Vantagepoint.

Trusted partners offer more than implementation services, since they can also provide consulting and advisory services, ongoing training and more. As a result, you are never alone on your journey to bring your entire business operation into one system. Furthermore, you can even select the partner you want to help navigate your successful implementation and continued use of Vantagepoint. 

Deltek Vantagepoint Addresses Your Firm’s Needs

Although each firm has its own unique needs and requirements, Deltek Vantagepoint out-of-the-box is ready to fully support all the roles and functions of your professional services firm. With Vantagepoint’s simple to understand user interface, each employee at your company can quickly learn how to use this solution to help them successfully complete their jobs. Whether it’s accounting, business development and marketing, project management or HR, all employees in your firm will have the right tools at their fingertips to be productive. Even more, with all roles working in one system, upper management and executives have insight into all the business functions to ensure the firm’s success regardless of the size your firm.

Deltek Vantagepoint Fits all Sizes of Project-Based Firms

Deltek Vantagepoint is the perfect project-based ERP system for firms of all sizes. From small growing firms to large firms, the features within Vantagepoint help deliver profitable and successful projects. Additionally, Vantagepoint was designed specifically around both the needs of your firm and employees. Here are some key features that make Vantagepoint the ideal solution for small to mid-sized firms:

• Vantagepoint is simple to configure ensuring it aligns with the unique needs of your business with the Activation Wizard
• Using the Proposal Editor, you can create profitable and winning proposals based on the historical performance of previous projects
• The Engagement Hub allows you to have insight into your business, and Hey Deltek is Vantagepoint’s personal assistant that helps users locate, open or create new records in the Engagement Hub
• A simple to understand user interface helps create an intuitive user experience
• You have access to the information in your Vantagepoint database from anywhere at any time using Cloud technology

Deltek Vantagepoint Can Help Small to Mid-sized Firms Be Successful

Running a successful firm requires it and its employees to have access to the best tools available. With Deltek Vantagepoint, all sizes of professional services firms get what they need from easy to use features to support from trusted partners. Since Vantagepoint is designed specifically to meet the needs of professional services firms like those which are project based, all sizes of firms including small to mid-sized will benefit from using Vantagepoint.

A CRM system, or Customer Relationship Management system, is a technology tool that allows you to track important details about your customers. Firms need to know which product or service the customer currently has and want the ability to monitor the customer’s buying journey and needs. A CRM system also helps support the firm’s overall goals and strategies within each department. Let’s take a better look at what a CRM system can do for your firm.

Create More Revenue with a CRM

Sales teams use a CRM to conduct research as well as find new leads for future opportunities. A CRM system offers an abundance of information that can increase productivity when it comes to generating new sales. The CRM system can be used to track client communications which enables sales representatives to build stronger relationships with their customers and create new streams of revenue that grow firm profits. Furthermore, a CRM system can provide interactive analytical tools that give the sales force an accurate insight into a customer’s interests and needs. Sales representatives can then have more productive conversations with their leads and continue to develop personal relationships.

Along with building stronger relationships, a CRM solution can help a firm figure out the most effective sales practices and use that information to better their sales team. Staying abreast of proven processes will keep your sales team up to date on the fastest and most effective way to move a lead to a sale. 

Work More Efficiently

Similar to sales, marketing can benefit tremendously from the use of a CRM system. First off, the relationship between the marketing team and sales team is crucial to ensure customer needs are being met. With everyone actively using a CRM system for customer information, sales and marketing results can be seen across the board. Communication between sales and marketing will improve since both teams will have access to the most relevant data.

A CRM system can also be used to track marketing campaign success. The marketing team can evaluate how effective different marketing campaigns were including the costs which can help determine the best use of marketing department funds. With this available data, the marketing team can additionally change certain parts of the campaigns and maybe personalize some better for certain customers.

Improve the Customer Experience

Making sure customers are satisfied with their experience with your firm is very important. The customer service team relies on being able to measure things such as customer retention, satisfaction, and what is and is not working. This data can be tracked using a CRM system. If a customer did not have a good experience, the cause of the problem can be determined, and customer service can figure out what needs to be done in the future to prevent that situation from happening again. This information can then be relayed back to the sales and marketing teams so they can fix the issue on their side.

Why a CRM System is Right for Your Firm!

To be successful in any business, working smarter and most efficiently is very important. A CRM system can provide your firm with the metrics and relevant data to see how well your firm is meeting customer needs. Additionally, a CRM system offers the most accurate and up to date information allowing all department teams to work together seamlessly and effectively. Are you ready to take advantage of a CRM system?

 

During the lifecycle of a project in the professional services industry, there is a lot of information being shared among all the members of the project delivery team. Furthermore, history has shown that there is a larger amount of project related documentation being created as the professional services industry continues to become more digitized. As a result, more information is being shared and there are more decisions and final approvals to be made.

With all this information bouncing back and forth, it can become difficult to track what your other team members have reviewed. Therefore, making timely decisions becomes increasingly harder which can jeopardize the successful delivery of a project. However, Deltek has created Deltek PIM to help firms better manage project documentation to allow project delivery team members quick and easy access to important project related information.  

Easily Track Submittals with Automated Workflows

There are all types of various submittals that have to be tracked and documented during the lifecycle of a project. For many firms, this is still done using spreadsheets and other manual methods. Due to this, tracking change orders becomes a heavily manual process which is time consuming and prone to errors.  

What if there was a way to make this process less time consuming and allows for improved tracking of submittals? With Deltek PIM, firms can take advantage of the workflow functionality to create a formal submittal review process. What makes PIM’s workflow functionality so great is that it allows project team members to track the status of each submittal throughout the entire process. Even more, it allows team members to see who has reviewed the submittal and who still needs to review it to help ensure it gets processed and approved before the deadline. PIM also sends reminder alerts to individuals when a deadline is approaching to ensure they review the change order before the deadline.

Emails Here and Emails There

During the project lifecycle, email is a leading communication method amongst project team members. However, have you ever left someone off an email, or have you not been included on one? If this has ever happened, it is likely that a project team member has been left out of the loop about critical project information. Even worse, a project team member may not receive a crucial document that contains important project information.

The problem with emails is that the sender may not include an important recipient, or the recipient may not open the email in time to make an actionable decision on the information being shared. Thus, the decision-making process can be delayed, and the project timeline can be put in jeopardy. However, Deltek PIM provides a solution to improve project communication.

With PIM’s email management functionality, the entire project team has access to all the conversations that have influenced changes to the design and construction process of the project. Furthermore, PIM’s email management solution allows for the storage of project related communications in one centralized area designated to a specific project. Therefore, you never have to worry about obtaining these communications even if a team member is on vacation, out on leave, or has left the firm. All this information is permanently stored and made easily accessible.

Keep Up with Important Project Documents

A large portion of delivering a successful project requires keeping project documents up-to-date and organized. This means having access to the latest version of a document and being confident that the version you are working on is the most current version. With most document control processes, it’s difficult to know if the version you are working on is the correct and most recent version. Even more challenging, what if someone is trying to make changes to the same document at the same time? As most can agree, document management can be truly challenging and can hinder the success of a project.

The good news is that Deltek PIM makes document management simple. When firms adopt PIM’s document management functionality, they are able to implement standard document management processes and make sure project team members are compliant with them. Even more, PIM ensures one single version is available to all project team members which reduces duplication and provides the team access to the latest version.

Improve Project Collaboration with Deltek PIM

Information here and information there, information is everywhere. Well, this can be great for somethings like researching an item before making a big purchase. However, information everywhere is not so great when trying to deliver a project for a client. With Deltek PIM, all project related information is located in one space making access to it quick and easy for all project team members.  

As a Deltek representative, we have heard all kinds of misconceptions about Deltek Vantagepoint. Despite our monthly newsletters, webinar series, and continued communication, we are still speaking to firms that are confused or have been advised incorrect information about transitioning from Vision to Vantagepoint. Most are honest mistakes conveyed by all kinds of people. However, many of these "untruths" are coming from competitors spreading incorrect rumors so they can take advantage of your firm and convince you to leave Deltek.

We need your help! Please send this blog to everyone at your firm. Share it with user groups you are involved with and other firms you know use Deltek Vision. Below are the real facts about upgrading from Deltek Vision to Deltek Vantagepoint. Please help us to dispel the misconceptions.

What is Deltek Vantagepoint?

• Deltek's reimagined flagship project-based solution for architects, engineers, and other professional services businesses.
• Designed to help you manage the entire project lifecycle better than before.
• This new solution is the culmination of the acceleration to iAccess and is based on feedback from our customers over the past 10 years.
• An intuitive, powerful solution that puts your people and projects at the center of your business so you can be more efficient, productive and profitable.

For executives or employees wanting to view the upcoming changes, we recommend checking out this webinar: Deltek Vantagepoint - The Best All In One Package. The webinar reviews the top 10 new features of Deltek Vantagepoint, how to access the Readiness Portal and provides guidance on next steps.

Dispelling the Misconceptions about Deltek Vantagepoint

Q: Is Deltek Vantagepoint a new product?

A: It is a continuation of the Vision product. Think Vision 10!

Q: Will our firm need to repurchase to move to Deltek Vantagepoint?

A: No! As long as you are current on maintenance.

Q: How long will Deltek Vision continue to be supported?

A: Through at least 2022. We want to emphasize the "at least" part.

Q: In order to get Deltek Vantagepoint do I have to move to the cloud?

A: No! However, it might make sense so reach out to your account manager if you are interested.

Q: Will Deltek Vantagepoint be available on-premise?

A: Yes!

Q: Will Deltek Vantagepoint require me to migrate my data?

A: No! Your data will move over. There are some considerations if you have repurposed any info centers.  

Q: Will all of my user defined fields and user defined info centers move over?

A:  Yes!

Q: Will Vantagepoint contain the exact functionality as Vision 7.6?

A: No. The product is being reimagined and improved. There are certain areas that will not move forward. Please see that section below.

Q: Can my firm request to upgrade to Deltek Vantagepoint and move next week?

A: We do not recommend that. There are considerations that need to be made. We highly recommend reviewing the checklist on the Readiness Portal and viewing our webinar series first.

What Are My Options on Getting a Vantagepoint Test Environment?

For firms that are seeking to obtain a Vantagepoint test environment, the answer to this question depends on your current deployment method. Below are the options:

• We are hosted by Deltek Cloud: If your firm is on the Deltek cloud, submit a case to Deltek letting them know you would like to have a test environment set-up for Vantagepoint. This does require further steps that Deltek will convey to you.
• We are hosted by Full Sail Partners: If your firm is hosted by Full Sail Partners, your Primary Contact should have received an email on Wednesday, September 18th outlining when test environment requests can be made and how long those test environments will be made available. If you did not receive the email, email hosting.
• We are hosted by an external hosting provider: If your firm is hosted by an external hosting provider, request that your provider set-up a test environment. If they have not set-up a Vantagepoint environment before, then we recommend you reach out to Full Sail Partners or your partner of record. It might make sense to consider moving to Deltek's cloud, hosting permanently with Full Sail Partners, or utilizing Full Sail Partners' transition hosting service. Contact us if you are interested in any of these options.
• We manage our own environment: If your firm manages your own environment, request that your IT staff provide you a test environment. If they have not set-up an environment before, then we recommend you reach out to Full Sail Partners or your partner of record. It might make sense to consider moving to Deltek's cloud, hosting permanently with Full Sail Partners, or utilizing Full Sail Partners' transition hosting service. Our IT Consultants can also provide consulting services to assist your IT staff. Contact us if you are interested in any of these options.

Keep in mind, the upgrade to Deltek Vantagepoint requires a new install and has new installment requirements. For on-premise clients, please check out our past webinar: Is Your Firm Technically Prepared for Deltek Vantagepoint.

Who Do I Contact?

If your firm is seeking assistance with upgrading to Vantagepoint, our team is here to help. Check out our Vantagepoint Upgrade Review and Recommendation Program. Additionally, here are other resources to know.    

• If you need any help accessing the portal, please e-mail DeltekUniversity (at) Deltek.com.
• If you have any questions about the content in the portal, please e-mail Vantagepoint (at) Deltek.com.
• If you have any questions about your preview or live Deltek software, please contact Deltek Customer Care https://deltek.custhelp.com/.
• If you need assistance with your upgrade, contact us or your partner of record.

Deltek Vantagepoint Resources

Make sure to check out our webinar series about preparing for the upgrade to Deltek Vantagepoint. In this series, our team of consultants cover a variety of topics such as technical requirements, resource planning and project management, new CRM functions, and the improved accounting interface. This webinar series page also includes demonstrations of Deltek Vantagepoint. If you prefer to read about the enhancements, check out all the articles we have posted about the enhancements Vantagepoint offers to firms that upgrade from Vision!

The release of Deltek Talent 16.0 has offered users even better functionality further improving firm workforce productivity. This latest version of Deltek Talent was created with the intention of strengthening strategic partnerships and developing Human Capital Management (HCM) capabilities. Let’s take a look at some of the new features of Deltek Talent 16.0.

Talent Relationship Management (TRM)

Version 16.0’s Deltek Talent Acquisition module introduced Talent Relationship Management which helps firms stay ahead of recruiting. Firms can now create recruitment campaigns to build relationships with top talent and source for openings. This improvement allows firms to fill project positions quickly. The Acquisition module also contains workflow improvements and enhanced on-boarding features.

Core HR

Once talent is hired, the new Core HR module enables firms to more efficiently manage employee records. Project-based businesses are constantly changing and there are shifts in workforce expectations. As part of the 16.0 release, there are newly added fields providing the ability to process hires, rehires, terminations and job changes. Using this automated process, there can be more focus on HCM within projects that helps with strategic planning.

Continuous Goal Management

Employee engagement and retention is always a top concern for firms. With the new continuous goal management feature in 16.0, you can set and manage goals separate from the appraisal process. This change significantly simplifies the goal writing process requiring less time. There is also the option of no score appraisals and comments can be tracked. Giving employees the consistent and frequent ability to meet set goals is important to keep them engaged.

Learning Requirements

Deltek Talent 16.0 incorporates the Learning module which lays out course and curriculum deadlines, recurrences and deadline offset options. There is a new two-level process that replaces CEUs allowing for flexibility on a per course basis. Additionally, Deltek has partnered with Red Vector for e-learning content which elevates performance for project-based businesses. Firms are able to track training and development in one place. There are 130+ courses available covering project management, leadership and HR issues.

Enhance the Whole Employee Life-cycle

Deltek Talent 16.0 offers new features that support the entire employee life-cycle. From sourcing the best talent to tracking human capital per project, to ensuring project managers are always learning and engaged, this new release fits the bill. Ready to see this improved functionality in action?

In the workplace, communication is vital to success. Leaders must make sure that their team knows what is happening on a constant basis and what is expected from them. Not only does communication keep everyone abreast of the goings on, it also encourages relationship building which leads to a more productive and engaged workforce. So, how can you improve your office communication to make it the most effective?

Have Open Meetings      

Having team meetings in a common, open venue is a great way to encourage communication. It is a receptive environment offering the opportunity to discuss issues that are on team member’s minds. The face to face dialogue of open team meetings allows for matters to be actively addressed and some problem solving to occur. Additionally, all team members can contribute their input which provides various points of view.

Listen and Encourage Feedback

For effective communication to happen, leaders must listen to what their team members have to say. They must keep an open mind and really hear what is being said before following up with the team. They should also encourage feedback from the team to make sure that what they are trying to convey is being accurately digested. With the give and take of all parties, communication will thrive.

Keep Humor

Another trick for improving office communication is making it light and relaxed. When dealing with subjects that can otherwise be intense, keeping humor in the conversation makes the message easier to pass along to the team. This does not mean you have to become a stand-up comedian but just insert some humor into the discussions.

Be Appreciative of Efforts

A necessity for business leaders who want to have improved communication with their teams is to show appreciation for their team efforts. When they attend a meeting and offer feedback, thank them for their time. Being respectful towards your team shows that you care, and in the end, will make them more engaged with your firm.

Update Frequently

Frequent updates are certainly required to improve communication. When communicating more boilerplate information, they can be done in one of two ways - either by email or via an internal newsletter. While emails are good for quick reminders, internal newsletters impart much larger amounts of general information to all team members.

Effective Office Communication Helps with Retention

When firm leaders use effective office communication, they are engaging their teams. Engagement is a big reason that employees choose to stay employed with a firm. So, by improving office communication, you are not only helping with productivity but ultimately staff retention as well.

The 40^th Annual Deltek AE Clarity study uncovered some interesting trends regarding business development from last year. The results indicated that AE firms still are struggling to find new opportunities early enough to convert them into sales. Additionally, a large number of firms that participated in the study identified the need to be more strategic about which potential projects to pursue. Here’s a quick summary of some business development findings from the 40^th Annual Deltek AE Clarity Study.

Business Development Challenges

One of the most significant findings in the study is that firms have trouble with prioritizing time to nurture client relationships. More importantly, this is a leading challenge for the second year in a row. The seller-doer model seems to be the go-to business development method for AE firms where not enough attention is given to focusing on potential new business opportunities. If firms stay with this outdated model, this trend will unfortunately continue.

Diving deeper, the number 2 and 3 challenges firms reported are increased competition and identifying new prospects. In regard to competition, this is going to occur in any industry and this challenge sounds more like an excuse. However, identifying new prospects has a direct correlation to firms using the seller-doer model. 61% of firms stated that project managers are almost always responsible for business development. With project managers being tasked to do their core job, delivering projects, they struggle in their efforts to successfully generate new business.

Revenue Growth Forecast Findings 

Less shockingly, net revenue growth remained at 5.1% on average. This is very little change from last year. So, why is this not surprising? The findings that firms lack having a dedicated business development team pinpoint the reason for net revenue growth staying stagnant.

Another notable discovery from the study is that smaller firms continue to pursue small projects that have shorter timelines as opposed to focusing on trying to win larger long-term projects. This business development model is proving to be less effective for generating increased revenue year after year. Smaller firms should take this under consideration when making plans for long term growth.

Key Takeaways from the 40^th Annual AE Deltek Clarity Study 

Out of all the firms that participated, less than half of the firms stated that they have a formal business development process. This is astonishing since creating new business is essential for future firm growth. Even more, firms are continuing to use the seller-doer model, and as a result, project managers face the challenge of balancing expectations which can hinder the success of their projects. Learn more by downloading your free copy of the 40^th Annual Deltek AE Clarity Study.