Full Sail Partners Blog | Technology Solutions (12)

Let’s admit it, running a business has plenty of challenges. Why create more by overlooking the critical connections that support your business? Throughout my tenure as a business owner and entrepreneur, I have found three connections a business must have to reduce the challenges. These are connections with employees, clients, and technology. Let’s take a look at the importance of these three connections.

Connections with Employees

For starters, firms need to create a workforce that are driven to work hard and are enthusiastic about their jobs. To achieve this, employers must find ways to create connections with employees that shows them you see them as people, not just employees.

The easiest way to show an employees you see them as people is to engage them. For example, use meetings as a time to let everyone express their ideas. Ask for their opinions, and ask them to think critically about things. At the end of the meeting, people walk away feeling as if they contributed to the better good of the organization. For more about connecting employees, check out the “9 Ways to Connect with Employees” blog.       

Connections with Clients

For project-based firms, it’s important to connect with clients throughout the entire project lifecycle. Ponder this question. Have you ever completed a project for a client and you believe they are completely satisfied with your services, but find out later that they were not happy? Sometimes even a client you know may feel uncomfortable telling you something is bothering them. So how do you identify there is an issue?  

First, work with the client to setup expectations before a project starts. Secondly, continuously check-in with a client on a regular basis during the project lifecycle to manage expectations of the entire team. One of the best ways to do this is through an automated feedback process. Watch this vlog, “Client Connections – Create Unique Client Experiences” for more ideas about connecting with clients. 

Connections with Technology

Most if not all businesses use technology to support their operations. The question here is, how many different systems does a business use and how do they connect? In reality, they usually don’t seamlessly connect and share information. As a result, critical business data is stored in multiple systems, making it difficult for business leaders to make informed decisions.

For businesses to be successful, systems and applications must be in place to support all departments. Although each application is designed to support a specific function of the business, the data for these systems should start with a core ERP system and have the ability to connect to other critical systems. This allows for clear visibility throughout the entire organization. Interested to learn how you can connect to other external systems? Watch this vlog, “Systems Connections – Is Your Critical Technology Connected?” to learn more.    

Connecting It All Together

A project-based firm is so much more than the service they provide; rather, it is a network of connections that require special attention. It is important to connect and communicate with employees and clients in order to build a sturdy foundation for your business to grow from. Connecting with technology is equally as important, as doing so can maximize efficiency in operations while also providing an edge against competitors. Ensuring that these three critical connections are a priority is simultaneously ensuring your business will be successful.   

 

Can you name a single business that does not use some form of technology? From our personal lives to our professional lives, technology is engrained in everything we do. Firms are investing in technology at a rate never before seen. Yet, many of these critical system connections are siloed and do not talk to each other. Watch the video below to see how firms are connecting their critical business systems to get more out of their investment and share information between disparate systems

 

 

Creativity, when used in the accounting world, is usually considered a “no-no”. However, I am not talking about misrepresenting the state of affairs. In fact, I am talking about the exact opposite - providing the client exactly what you told them to expect at the beginning of the proposal process. Let’s take a look at how setting client expectations early can improve your firm’s cash flow. 

Setup a Project Process

I am not saying that project management and marketing get to dictate accounting functions, but I am saying that it is imperative that accounting work with project managers and marketers to ensure the signed agreements match the accounting schedule and billing possibilities. To do that, accounting needs to understand the needs of the client and the project managers, as well as the functions and limitations of the software they use for accounting and billing.

From there, you can create a project set up process that easily allows the project managers to see where they are in the project in relation to the budget and plan. This ensures the invoices match what the client was told to expect. As a result, clients are more likely to pay on time and you can count on the cash flow coming in from your clients.

Understand Reporting and Timing Requirements

In many cases, clients have specific reporting and timing requirements – some are reasonable and some are not. Involving accounting at the front end of the project to have discussions with the clients about what is possible and not possible will go a long way to ensure a smoother billing/collection process down the road.

However, accounting can’t become obstinate with the “we don’t do things that way approach.” There has to be a willingness to work with the others to solve the issues between the client desires and the current accounting process. Having he accounting staff work directly with the client to resolve the issues will ensure both understand where the other is coming from.  

Have the Right Accounting System

Understanding what the client needs and understanding what is possible in the billing system allows accounting to bridge the gap. Of course, having a system that offers many options to bill the client helps too. At a minimum, your system should allow you to create billing cycles that allow for most client timelines.

The better systems will allow for billing to be prepared with multiple options for the way the labor and expense are handled. Additionally, they have ways for managing fees and additional items such as credits. The best systems allow for changes in the invoice format so the final product has the required information in more or less where it is needed. Again, flexibility, creativity and patience are often needed.

Let the Cash Flow

Remember that a good collection process begins by communicating with the client - take the time to understand their needs and explain what is possible. Create a billing process that is flexible enough to support client expectations and is efficient enough to be managed internally. Doing so will go a long way in avoiding issues down the road.

Full Sail Partners, a Deltek Premier Partner, announces that Jennifer Wilson has joined the firm as a SQL Developer. Ms. Wilson’s hire bolsters the Full Sail Partners’ team of solution developers. Jennifer will collaborate with clients and key stakeholders to help provide enhanced analytical insight into the information that impacts their business.

Jennifer joins Full Sail Partners with a strong background and acumen of database development and management. She brings with her the experience needed to successfully architect, design and populate business solutions that rely upon complex data sources.

“I enjoy the challenge of translating business processes and concepts into reports and visual aids in order to better assist clients with their analytical needs,” said Jennifer Wilson. “Professional services firms face unique challenges and requirements; I look forward to working with Deltek Vision users to streamline solutions.”

With a decade of experience in programming, reporting, product development and designing process automation, Jennifer’s background will provide valuable expertise to Full Sail Partners' customers in meeting their design, process and system improvement initiatives.

“We are thrilled to have Jennifer join the Full Sail Partners’ development staff,” said Peter Nuffer, Full Sail Partners’ Director of Product Development. “Jennifer brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the team. Her approach and work ethic has made the rollout of Deltek Vision custom solutions seamless, helping create a better experience for our customers.”

For more information, please contact Full Sail Partners’ Marketing Communications Department. Interested in learning more about the Full Sail Partners' team? Check out our crew!

Full Sail Partners and Planifi announced their recently formed strategic partnership. This alliance brings together Full Sail Partners’ world-class consulting services with Planifi’s industry-leading resource planning software “Project Analyzer” to provide architecture and engineering firms with a better way to manage their resources.

Project Analyzer is a visual resource planning software that enables project managers to quickly schedule, budget and staff projects. This graphic project management tool empowers firms to improve project planning by focusing on predictable and profitable delivery.

“We are excited to introduce Project Analyzer to our clients,” said Scott Seal, Full Sail Partners’ Vice President of Consulting. “We believe that Project Analyzer aligns with our core principals of helping professional services firms improve their business processes. Our clients will benefit from the increased visibility needed to make informed decisions around firm staffing, performance and revenue forecasts.”

Additionally, Michael Kessler, Principal Consultant at Full Sail Partners who successfully helps firms implement and utilize resource planning said, "I am looking forward to offering a powerful new planning solution to our customers. The reporting capabilities of Project Analyzer have been on my clients’ wish list for years."

This partnership will focus on enabling architecture and engineering firms to center their business on the project performance analytics that support better decision making by project managers and firm executives.

“This is a big day for Planifi,” said Tom Vandervort, Planifi founder. “This partnership will enable a whole new group of architecture and engineering firms to choose Planifi for their resource planning needs. Customers will benefit from the ability to select the solution that best works for them, all guided by Full Sail Partners’ expertise. Planifi customers will also benefit; as we are now able to offer enhanced consulting capabilities and solutions to our customers through Full Sail Partners.”

Ready to learn about the much-anticipated release of Deltek Vision 7.5? With each new version of Vision, Deltek strives to include new features and enhancements to help your firm know more to do more! Let’s take a look and see what’s new with Deltek’s newest version of Vision.

Deltek Vision 7.5 Features and Enhancements:

• Focus to Client Nurturing | The new Client Activity Status Report allows users to quickly and visually identify clients that need attention. Add a touch of color! The new feature allows you to highlight your activities by color to easily identify clients that need follow-up.
• Proposals Made Easier | Sometimes it’s the small things that make a big impact. Deltek has made the proposal process easier. The improved proposal module allows users to apply the selection criteria to all projects and employees at the same time. Users can also choose default graphics and have an easy-to-select graphic option. Even more, users can select project experience based on actual hours worked and merge service estimates totals. Lastly, InDesign users now have the ability to display multiple records on one page. All of these little enhancements save time during the proposal creation process.
• Newly Created Asset Management Module | Now all of your fixed assets are in one place to increase tracking and decision-making. The New Vision Asset Management Module is integrated with the purchasing and accounting functions within Vision to enable you to create, track, manage, depreciate, and dispose of your fixed assets in one central location. Be sure to inquire about Q1 2016 incentives.
• Manage Employees with Ease Across Multiple Companies | Vision Multi-Company just got way better! In 7.5, Multi-Company Employees can be associated with more than one company with a designated “home” company. More importantly, employee specific data carries over to each company allowing for company-specific and system-wide reporting. Find out more about the new Multi-company features here.  
• Approvals Simplified | Stop with the endless email chains full of approval requests. In the version of Vision, absence requests and accounts payable invoices can be approved by designing simple or complex workflows to automate the approval process.
• Better Forecast Revenue and Expenses | In Vision 7.5, the general ledger (GL) enhancements allow users to consolidate budgeting into a single view allowing for better insight into your business. This new functionality allows you to create, manage, review, edit, and approve multiple GL budgets from a single view. Learn more about these enhancements here.
• Save Time Reconciling Bank Statements | In this latest version of Vision, users can import bank statements, automatically match records, and review records to manually match any remaining transactions.
• Smarter Project Planning | Building on the power of task dependencies in 7.4, project managers now can effectively manage project schedules and closely track a project’s critical path and identify schedule risks. Additionally, color-coded predecessor tasks, expanded right-click functionality, and better integration with iAccess are just a few highlights to enable your project managers to make smarter decisions.
• Keep Up with Project & Business Development On-The-Go | Obtaining the information you need on-the-go just got better. iAccess 2.2 enhancements now provides users the ability to create saved custom searches on any field, including custom fields. With an improved interface and screen designer settings enhancements, iAccess is becoming the go-to tool to access project metrics and business development updates anywhere at any time.
• Improved Touch Capabilities | Deltek Touch now supports iPhones & iPads with iOS 8+, Android Phones and Tablets with OS 4.1+, and Windows Phones with OS 8.1. Building upon timesheet and expense capabilities, users now have timesheet auditing available on their mobile devices.
• Much More | Deltek Vision 7.5 provides even more enhancements for accounting and project management with greater connectivity and better user interfaces.

Have questions about the newest enhancements and features included in Deltek Vision 7.5, or looking for information on how to upgrade to 7.5? Reach out to us, and we will be happy to help you get a grasp on all of the new functionality available to your firm!

 

 

I came across an article the other day written by ASCE Past President, Andrew W. Herrmann on the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th anniversary celebration. The article Celebrating ‘Built to Last’ – Which Actually Demands a Lot of Maintenance, discussed the investment of on-going infrastructure maintenance and it got me thinking. The AEC industry touts about the government investing in infrastructure and how neglecting airports, highways, and bridges is more costly if it isn't maintained. The IT world has been saying the same about IT systems and databases. Is your firm guilty of not maintaining your IT infrastructure?  

Let's take a look at some on-going maintenance that your firm may be overlooking:  

Backup Mistakes

Unfortunately, for municipalities and governments, there is no backup for when a bridge or building falls apart. That is to say, there is no way to restore the bridge with a click of a button in the same way your firm can to restore lost data. Preparing for failure and implementing a reliable backup plan is essential to maintaining the integrity of your data.

The problem is many people believe this is an easy and mindless task, but often make some very common mistakes.

1. Many firm’s only test their backups periodically, and it either becomes a forgotten task or done improperly. Verifying backups is a useful practice to ensure data is intact, readable, and can be restored if data is ever lost.
2. Many firms that have their own servers tend to only backup data and not the server’s operating system and applications. While this practice saves time and valuable memory on the server, it can often be more costly in the future if the server itself fails. For example, it is much easier to restore the operating system, the applications and then the data than it is to manually install the operating system and setup the applications.   

Server and Hardware Failure

Normal wear and tear of the roads and bridges is the primary reason for the need to perform ongoing maintenance. It is required to ensure physical integrity for years to come. Likewise, many firms overlook the parts of their IT infrastructure that are prone to wear and tear. Although most of the components of servers and hardware are electrical, they also contain a few mechanical parts that tend to be more prone to failure. The reality is, as these components age, they tend to experience wear and tear that will inevitably result in a failure.

Interesting enough, failure can be avoided if you’re aware of common warning signs.

1. Servers and hardware are designed to operate while creating minimal noise. If you start hearing a clicking or grinding sign coming from your server or computer, it’s likely you’re going to experience a failure soon.
2. Mechanical failure is the result of wear and tear, plan on replacing servers and hardware more frequently to avoid the unexpected and dreaded failure.

Avoiding Updates

An ACEC whitepaper titled, Our Infrastructure Crisis – Your Turn to Act noted that one of the consequences of under-investment by municipalities and governments is an aging and outdated energy infrastructure. Aside from the inefficiencies of using outdated technologies, the cost to update the energy infrastructure is going to be massive. The problem is that the energy infrastructure has to work in sync, therefore updating one component means other key components will need to be replaced so the overall system can continue to work in harmony.  These same consequences can affect a firm using outdated software.

When deciding to update your antiquated software, you may also have to update other enterprise software your firm uses and maybe some hardware as well.

1. Firms using older software that runs on unsupported operating systems, such as Windows XP, will have to update their hardware to support the new software.
2. Also, even if your operating system may support some newer software, those can potentially impact other software that are reliant upon them.

The take away here is that using supported and current software versions might seem expensive, but in the long run, it pays to stay up-to-date. By not being on the most current software, your firms' productivity and efficiency can greatly deminish. 

The Big Picture

Just like municipalities and governments failing to maintain the roads, bridges and airports, AEC firms can experience significant costs for failing to maintain their IT infrastructure. The big picture is that maintaining your IT infrastructure requires you to ensure you backup your information, proactively prevent server and hardware failure, and most importantly, stay-up-date.    

 

Introducing the Deltek Vision Constant Contact Connector! Full Sail Partners unveiled a new breed of Deltek Vision connectivity at the Deltek Insight Conference.These ready-to-go solutions included an integration to Constant Contact. This cutting edge technology allows firms to integrate to Constant Contact at a fraction of the development time and cost needed to build out a similar solution from scratch. Any Deltek Vision user can utilize this solution no matter if they are in the cloud or on-premise. 

When developing the solution, our own team was challenged by the manual process we had to go through on almost a weekly basis and heard of many other Deltek Vision users faced with the same challenge. During the development of the solution the Full Sail Partners team sought to: 

• Allow users to utilize the existing Marketing Campaign functionality to associate contacts and leads
• Eliminate the manual push of contact and lead data to Constant Contact
• Provide visibility and searching capabilities to unsubscribe, open, clicks, forwards and bounce data in Vision
• Report on single email lists in one Marketing Campaign for all email mailings or single mailings, i.e. newsletters
• Weed out duplicates and poorly formatted email addresses prior to mailings 

We invite you to view our video to learn more about our Deltek Vision Constant Contact Connector. Additionally, Full Sail Partners has partnered with Constant Contact to also offer new Constant Contact clients a discount off your subscription. Happy marketing!   

Interested in Connecting Your Deltek Vision System to the Outside World?

Want to learn more about this new breed of API connection tool that can be used on-premise and in the cloud? Full Sail Partners the first and only solution provider to bring you applications that can immediately connect to your Deltek Vision product with little to no effort from your IT department. Start doing more with your Deltek Vision system!

 

Full Sail Partners unveils new custom solutions and integrated offerings for Deltek Vision® ERP at Deltek Insight 2015. The Vision Connector Suite includes ready-to-go solutions focused on keeping professional services firms centered on efficient production by connecting their critical business systems.

The Full Sail Partners Vision Connector Suite allows quick connections from Deltek Vision to other API capable applications. This next generation framework allows both Deltek Vision cloud and on-premise systems to seamlessly integrate with best-in-class cloud applications like Constant Contact, MailChimp, SharePoint for Office 365, Client Feedback Tool, and more. This cutting edge technology allows firms to integrate critical business systems at a fraction of the development time and cost needed to build out similar solutions, with none of the traditional network topology restrictions. Solutions include:

Automated Feedback Process

Full Sail Partners is releasing version 2.0 for the Client Feedback Tool, a cloud solution built to help firms collect and incorporate feedback from their clients throughout the project life cycle. Leveraging the Vision Connector between these two systems was ideal for a prebuilt integration. A team of experts developed an automated process to reduce redundancy and improve efficiency while adhering to the feedback philosophy set forth by the Client Feedback Tool. Full Sail Partners integration with the Client Feedback Tool allows Deltek Vision clients to deploy surveys on-demand or through a batch process, as well as, view the survey response status directly in Vision.

Email Marketing Connectors

Deltek Vision now integrates with Constant Contact enabling firms to populate data directly to their email marketing tool from Deltek Vision CRM in a matter of minutes. The Connector maintains consistency between the two applications and eliminates manual importing and exporting of data. This mutual relationship between data will save marketing teams hundreds of hours each year. The solution provides tracking capabilities through the Deltek Vision Marketing Campaigns Info Center providing visibility that can be leveraged throughout the system. 

Deltek Vision Meets SharePoint Office 365

The SharePoint Connector is a quick and easy way to bring data in Deltek Vision and SharePoint into harmony. Beyond basic connectivity, the SharePoint Connector also integrates with Gig Werks’ ProjectReady Suite of Applications’ best in class SharePoint solutions built for the AEC industry. This bi-direction data synchronization ensures data accuracy and consistency across all of your projects.

“We look forward to expanding our investment in business productivity and integration offerings,” said Peter Nuffer, Director of Solution Development at Full Sail Partners. “We’ve effectively established a layer of functionality on top of the Vision API that will allow Deltek Vision administrators to setup easy point and click ready-to-go solutions with low costs and high tech results.”