Full Sail Partners Blog (43)

Welcome to Deltek for Professional Services (DPS), the next generation solution for professional services automation (PSA). If PSA is a new term for you, think of it as a specialized system like an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution except specifically designed for the professional services industry. Also, check out this short article to learn more about PSA.  So, what can DPS do for your firm? Let’s see how this new cutting-edge solution will add value.

What is Deltek for Professional Services?

At its core, Deltek for Professional Services is a solution to assist your professional services firm with overcoming industry challenges and give you the tools needed to gain a competitive advantage. Whether it’s winning more work, recruiting new talent, providing top-notch project delivery or accurate forecasting of final performance, DPS will help your firm stay focused on the future. As a complete and all-inclusive package, DPS will positively affect all the core areas of your business by streamlining your processes.

Intelligent Business Development

Knowing if you have enough pipeline to meet your firm’s future goals is critical to measuring the success of your business development efforts. With Deltek for Professional Services, you can eliminate business development shortcomings by providing your team with a collaborative platform to enable every team member to stay engaged and up to date. Even more, DPS is an integrated solution that allows your business development team to create proposals based on the historic performance of your firm. As a result, your firm can create actual target revenues per account and realistic revenue forecasting.

Simplified Project Management   

Using Deltek for Professional Services, building a project plan has never been easier. With an improved user interface based on iAccess for Deltek Vision, DPS allows project managers to develop plans based on the performance of similar projects. Managers can simply build key performance indicators (KPIs) and milestones into these plans which can track the success of a project. Furthermore, these KPIs and milestones can be used to develop a project management dashboard that lets project managers see all critical project information on a single screen.

Improved Financial Insights

Tracking project profitability can be challenging. However, Deltek for Professional Services makes this process simple by eliminating the guessing game with dashboards and alerts to let you know how a project is faring. DPS allows you to monitor the key metrics that can determine the success of a project like margins, utilization, and cash flow. With this tracking system, you can keep your finances on target.

Transitioning to Deltek for Professional Services

Ready to make the move? Deltek has a plan to transition your firm to DPS if your firm is currently on Deltek Vision. Contact us to find out more about preparing for the migration. If you’re not currently using a Deltek product, Full Sail Partners can help your firm determine if DPS is right for you!

Full Sail Partners is pleased to announce that the Blackbox Connector for Concur and Deltek Vision is now available in the Concur App Center. The Blackbox Connector for Concur and Deltek Vision provides Concur clients who use Deltek Vision with a solution to more effectively manage project expenses with near real-time exchange of data between these two industry leaders, allowing bi-directional synchronization of projects, work breakdown structure, employees and completed expense reports.

“We selected Concur because they are the best in class for expense reporting both for end-user simplicity, as well as the breadth of customization and options for the accounting staff. We are excited to have our Blackbox Connector available in the Concur App Center. This will allow our clients to marry the elegant user interface of Concur and the power of Vision to reduce their time spent on submitting expense reports, and provide more control and visibility on spend for the company,” said Tanya Drake, Director of Add-on Technology for Full Sail Partners.

Concur is the world’s leading provider of integrated travel and expense management services and solutions. Offering apps with streamlined integration with Concur Travel, Expense and Invoice products, the Concur App Center delivers innovative functionality in key categories such as finance, regulatory compliance, enterprise identity, traveler productivity, travel management and much more. For more information, visit https://www.concur.com/app-center.

Additionally, having completed training by Concur on Concur methodologies, Full Sail Partners is now a Customer Success Partner with Concur. As a Customer Success Partner, Full Sail Partners is now better equipped with insider information and deep product knowledge so you can spend less time setting up Concur and more time enjoying faster deployments and greater returns on your Concur investment.

For more information, please contact Full Sail Partners’ Marketing and Communications Department. 

Full Sail Partners, a Deltek Platinum Partner and Client Feedback Tool Premier Partner, is pleased to announce the addition of Lindsay Diven, CPSM to the consulting services team. Lindsay has joined the firm as a senior Deltek Vision CRM consultant. In this position, she will work with clients to implement Deltek Vision’s CRM, Custom Proposal, and SF330 modules, as well as the Client Feedback Tool.

Lindsay comes to Full Sail Partners with 12 years of marketing and business development experience in the AE field. Using Deltek Vision, Lindsay has worked with both marketing and business development teams to implement business strategies and manage client data in pursuit of increasing sales opportunities and win rates. Additionally, her active involvement both with the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) and the Deltek Vision Central Florida Users Group ensures Lindsay keeps a pulse on the AE industry.

 “My prior experience as a marketing and business development director and a Deltek CRM client will help me bring an insider’s approach,” said Lindsay. “I’m excited to work closely with our clients to implement Deltek CRM in a way that strengthens their marketing and business development efforts.”

The Full Sail Partners’ CRM consultant acts as a trusted advisor for all clients. This consultant focuses on evaluating the client's existing software solution to develop a training strategy that is unique to each client experience. In this role, Lindsay will leverage her knowledge to ensure our clients continue to be successful long into the future.  

"When asked who would be an ideal candidate to be a CRM consultant, a hand full of names came to mind," stated Sarah Gonnella, VP of Marketing & Sales. "Amazingly the stars aligned and I am ecstatic to have Lindsay join the Full Sail Partners’ team. A strong Deltek CRM expert, demonstrated leader in the industry, and overall marketing and business development guru, our clients will gain an outstanding consultant in Lindsay to help grow their business."

For more information, please contact Full Sail Partners’ Marketing and Communications Department.

Deltek Insight 2017 is fast approaching­! Have you made your plans to go? This year it will be in Nashville, Tennessee from October 23rd to 26^th at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. If you aren’t yet convinced of why you should attend Deltek Insight, here’s a look at some reasons to make it worth your while.

Sessions With Deltek Vision Experts

Deltek Vision can do more than most can even imagine. At Insight, there are numerous breakout sessions with Vision experts where you can learn tips and tricks that would otherwise remain undiscovered. Sessions are provided for Deltek Vision users of all skill levels from the novice to the expert Vision user. Sessions offer continuing education, provided by Vision experts, geared to increase your knowledge and ability to utilize Vision successfully.

Full Sail Partners will have several of its own experts on-site leading sessions. Rana Blair will demonstrate capabilities available to on-the-go project managers by displaying how iAccess can help more effectively monitor projects. If concerned with the challenge of recruiting top talent, you can join Sarah Gonnella as she shows how you can improve your HR effectiveness by deploying marketing tactics. Check out the whole list of Full Sail Partners’ led sessions here.

Network With Other Deltek Vision Users

Insight is the largest gathering of Deltek users. Attending Insight you will have many opportunities to network with Vision users from around the world. You will be able to talk with others in your industry about common user issues. In these pleasant interactions, you may be given answers to problems you have encountered, or you may be able to provide feedback that you acquired in using Vision.

Mixing Business With Fun

Deltek Insight begins with a huge welcome reception giving attendees the ability to mingle while learning more about the planned events for Insight 2017. Attendees will enjoy delectable hors d’oeuvres provided by Deltek. The welcome reception is a great time for you to stop by our booth and see what we are doing to improve our customer experiences and help you get the most out of Vision.

Insight 2017 also marks its 10^th anniversary. At the Celebrate Insight event on the last night of the conference, LoCash will take the stage at the Grand Ole Opry. Attendees are never disappointed with the way that Deltek closes the action-packed week of networking and education. Between the food/dessert buffets and entertainment, this Insight event is sure to please.

Register Now for Deltek Insight 2017

It should be pretty obvious now that Deltek Insight provides great benefit to you and your firm. From the networking to the learning experiences to the fun, it is worth the effort to attend.

How does your company measure up to the competition? Are you performing above the industry standards or below? Are you achieving the objectives necessary to continue to grow and operate successfully? In order to answer these questions, management must have a way to track performance. Evaluating the progress of individuals, projects, and specific departments is important, but management also needs an in depth look at the company as a whole.

The two most popular methods for measuring performance are Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Benchmarks. Both KPIs and Benchmarking are used to motivate employees by giving them measurable targets to meet. By meeting these targets, the employees help to increase the overall performance of the company. So, if they are both used to measure performance, what’s the distinction?

Key Performance Indicators

Key Performance Indicators are measures of how well a company, individual, business unit, or project is performing compared to specific strategic objectives or goals set by the company. KPIs that are well constructed provide direction leading to a clear understanding and awareness of current performance. KPIs often differ from company to company or department to department within a company based on the goals of the specific company or particular department.

A company’s desire to measure the indicators often dictates the KPIs put into practice. When developing a KPI, how that KPI relates to a specific business objective needs to be considered. Here are a few examples of KPIs that you may use for your business:

• Staff Retention
• New Customer Acquisition
• Timeliness of Projects
• Financial Growth

Planning is key when dealing with KPIs for measurement. It is important that they are significant, understandable and current. Using customized KPIs will provide great insight into your business.

Benchmark Indicators

Benchmarking compares other organizations in your industry to your own organization. Benchmarks are often measured by studying the results of other company operations that have best practices put in place to achieve exceptional results. The goal of benchmarking is to improve your processes to strengthen company performance, enhance customer satisfaction and increase revenue.

Performance benchmarking and strategic benchmarking are commonly used by firms. Performance benchmarking generally compares products and services with target companies in your industry allowing your firm to measure your economic position. Whereas strategic benchmarking involves observing and evaluating how other companies compete (which may include those outside of industry).

There is a significant amount of benchmarking data already gathered and available for companies to allow them to measure themselves against industry peers. The Deltek AE Clarity report, for example, is done annually. Sometimes there is a fee associated with acquiring benchmarking data, but it is easily recouped by the savings of resources and time in not having to do your own research.

Benefit from Key Performance Indicators and Benchmarks

Both of these methods allow management to identify areas where the company excels as well as areas that need improvement. However, to benefit from using KPIs and Benchmarks, a company needs to be willing to set objectives, make changes and follow through. Keep in mind, it is vital for company growth and success that those objectives are set both based upon internal history as well as industry standard criterion.

Full Sail Partners, a Deltek Platinum Partner, is honored to announce that Kevin Hebblethwaite has been promoted to principal consultant. With 20 years of experience in marketing, business development and management for professional services firms, Kevin is a seasoned consultant. He is also a past national president of the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) and remains very active.

"Full Sail Partners has assembled an incredible team – one I learn from every day,” Kevin said. “I love watching professional services firms turn their traditional marketing and business development functions into catalysts for great client experiences and growth.”

As principal consultant, Kevin will continue to guide clients in strategic marketing and business development implementations of Deltek’s professional services platforms. Kevin also is the key point of contact for Full Sail Partners’ Blackbox Connector integrations between Deltek Vision and third-party marketing applications such as Client Feedback Tool, Constant Contact, and MailChimp.

"It is with great honor to promote Kevin to principal consultant," stated Sarah Gonnella, VP of Marketing & Sales. "Kevin has played a key role in expanding our focus of helping business development and marketing professionals. His strong leadership, mentorship, and client management skills will play a huge role as our firm continues to expand."

For more information, please contact Full Sail Partners’ Marketing and Communications Department.

Full Sail Partners, a Deltek Platinum Partner, is pleased to announce that Ryan Felkel has been promoted to Marketing Manager. Ryan has extensive experience in content creation, web & social media, SEO, event management and Deltek Vision CRM. As a creative and focused marketing leader, he believes strongly in providing clients with the most valuable industry information to ensure they are getting the most out of their Vision systems.

"I truly enjoy being a member of the Full Sail Partners’ team and working with our consultants to identify content that is relevant to our clients,” Ryan said. “It’s extremely satisfying when a client reaches out to tell us how our information has helped them.”

As Marketing Manager, Ryan will continue to cultivate current client relationships while also pursuing new business within the AEC industry and in new market verticals. Additionally, he has assumed responsibility for building awareness of Deltek for Professional Services (DPS), Deltek Talent, Deltek Project Information Management (PIM), and the Blackbox Connector integrations for Deltek Vision.

"Finding the right person to fill your shoes is not always an easy task," stated Sarah Gonnella, VP of Marketing & Sales. "Ryan's demonstrated leadership and ability to quickly learn our business made that decision an easy choice. I am proud to hand the torch to someone that understands the importance of providing educational content to our clients and prospective clients."

For more information, please contact Full Sail Partners’ Marketing and Communications Department.

Yep, you read that right. I said free resources are available for Deltek users. Using these free resources, you can become more familiar with Deltek products and keep up with the newest features and how they work. Even more, Full Sail Partners and Deltek both offer these free resources for your consumption. So, what are these useful yet complimentary tools and where do you find them?

User Groups 

User groups are a great way to network with your peers, learn tips about how they utilize their systems and perhaps better ways to accomplish specific tasks. User group meetings are led by a Deltek expert and you will enjoy an interactive environment where you learn more about a feature and get questions answered in real time. Additionally, user groups provide the opportunity to talk with other users about challenges you may be having so you can discover solutions. Look for a user group in your area and check out our upcoming list of user group events.

Webinars 

Both Full Sail Partners and Deltek offer webinars on a variety of topics presented by subject matter experts. These webinars can be attended live or viewed later on demand. You can ask questions during live webinars and walk away with the answers you are seeking. Additionally, webinars can be attended from anywhere that has internet access making them extremely convenient. Check out a list of upcoming and on demand webinars here.

YouTube 

Full Sail Partners also offers short training videos and demos for Deltek Vision users. These give you the ability to learn as your schedule allows. In our YouTube videos, we show you how to complete time saving tasks so you can quickly move from novice to power user. The videos are packed with valuable information to benefit all users. Make sure to check out and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

Blogs 

Our weekly blogs cover hot and relevant industry topics. Each blog is written to provide helpful insights and tips with the intention of keeping users up to date on all of the latest information available. You will find links to our blogs in our monthly newsletter or you can check out our blogs on our website. 

Stay Tuned for the Latest Free Resources

While you can always visit our website daily, there are other ways to keep in the loop. We use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to spread the word about our new educational resources. Also, make sure to subscribe to our monthly newsletter where you can find lists of new blogs, webinars, and events.

First off, you’re thinking what does this perplexing term, professional services automation (PSA), actually mean? Well, before we jump into the need for it, let’s first look at what determines a professional services firm. At its core, a professional services firm sells knowledge and time as opposed to an actual tangible product.

As a result, tracking revenue to product sold isn’t as simple as selling a “widget” for a predetermined amount to ensure a profit. Instead, time must be tracked to a project to ensure the professional services firm is able to make a profit from the services they provide. Therefore, the purpose of a PSA is to help streamline the delivery of those professional services.

Enterprise Resource Planning Versus Professional Services Automation

All bourbons are whiskey, but not all whiskeys are bourbon. That’s right, and not all enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools are PSA tools. This is because many ERP systems aren’t designed to meet the specific requirements of professional services firms. Instead, many firms try to piece together their own systems using a variety of generic tools such as an off the shelf accounting product and a homegrown project management solution, or in other cases, using a generic ERP and trying to customize it to meet their needs.

PSA systems, on the other hand, are designed to meet the unique requirements of the professional services industry. These systems come complete with all of the tools a firm needs to manage its business. More importantly, all of these systems communicate with each other. Thus, firm leaders have a 360-degree view into their business.

Benefits of Professional Services Automation

Firstly, PSA systems support new business development by integrating the client relationship management tool with the entire system that maintains your business. This integration makes it easier to take a lead to opportunity and finally create a project.

Secondly, resource planning and strategy development are based on past project performance data. The data ensures that your bid for a project is representative of how your firm delivers its services. Consequently, your firm can rest assured that, at the end of the project, the projected profit will be close to the actual profit.

Lastly, PSAs bring all of your business components together in one system. This reduces operational complexity and shortens the amount of time spent on many of your critical business processes. Not only is the time savings a benefit, but smooth operations for back office personnel are ensured which supports improving the client experience and satisfaction.

Moving Your Firm to a Professional Services Automation Software

Implementing a PSA solution can increase your firm’s productivity and ability to deliver projects on-time which guarantees accurate project planning. However, don’t go at it alone. Make sure you pick a solution that meets the majority of your firm’s needs and choose a trusted partner to assist with the implementation. Trying to force the wrong system to work for your firm will only lead to wasted money and poor usage practices from employees. 

The following account is a true story. It begins with an AE firm recognizing the need for change in order to support its growth. This firm quickly realized that bringing disparate systems to one integrated platform like Deltek Vision was the fix they needed.

Here’s the firm’s story…

Identifying the Need for Change

Initially to manage its business, this firm was using several different systems that communicated poorly. Specifically, each critical function for the firm used a separate system which had its own unique database:

• Accounts Receivable – MS Access database
• Accounts Payable – MS Access and an outdated accounting program
• Project Management – Internally developed and managed databases, spreadsheets, and online systems
• Reporting – Internally developed and supported 

Desiring the ability to make better and faster decisions, the firm opted to move to a single enterprise-wide and industry-proven software platform. The move would allow this firm to streamline operations and reduce overhead time/costs by eliminating duplicate efforts and manual operations. The software of choice for this firm was Deltek Vision. 

Implementing Deltek Vision 

The implementation began with the drafting of processes using the project life cycle as a template. It was built to engage project managers earlier and more often throughout the entire process. Additionally, the firm recognized the need to ensure a budget could be developed using Resource Planning (RP). 

Having a budget became a requirement before a project could be initiated. As a result, the contract compensation was directly tied to the budget making routine maintenance integral to the project’s life. Furthermore, time charging, invoicing, and revenue recognition were not allowed without a project budget. 

The firm also sought to embrace the automation capabilities of Deltek Vision. Automation, of course, enabled the streamlining of processes. As an example, they decided to utilize invoice review automation to allow accounting to work in tandem with operations to deliver financial results. 

Most importantly, the philosophy around reporting changed dramatically. The firm now wanted to standardize reporting practices. Originally, employees had created and used their own desired data and had determined not only individual key performance indicators, but how and what those measurements were based upon.  

The Result of Choosing Deltek Vision 

I began working with this firm three years ago, and there is so much success to share: 

• Reduction of invoicing time
• Faster and more reliable monthly closes
• More and better insight into project performance based on standardized reports 

These are just a few of the identified areas where using Deltek Vision has improved this firm’s performance. In the end, using Deltek Vision, the firm has seen its overall financial performance improve. 

Advice for Implementing Deltek Vision 

Here are some tips to help ensure successful Vision implementations:

• Engage and work closely with a Deltek consulting partner like Full Sail Partners
• Plan, design and configure based on your firm’s unique requirements
• Testing, testing and more testing - both transactional and end to end
• Make necessary changes and continue testing
• Prepare for go live including preparing your staff with training