Performis

Smooth run on Great Plains

Like most small businesses, Brisbane human resources group Performis faced a tough and potentially costly decision when it outgrew its accounting software.

Established in 2001, Performis provides consulting, training and operational support to organisations in the retail, banking and finance, hospitality, manufacturing and telecoms industries.

Employing 30 staff, its MYOB financial software could not longer handle the account processes for a rapidly growing company.

The system was not able to produce financial reports electronically, so printed reports were produced quarterly and mailed to the company’s offices.

“MYOB just couldn’t handle our reporting requirements”, Performis director Edmund Pelgen says.

In June last year, the company started looking for a replacement that would be able to handle future growth.

Following a ring-around of suppliers, systems integrator Eclipse was chosen to evaluate and install the new system, Pelgen says.

“We were conscious that software like this can cost in excess of $100,000 so when we went to market we knew we would have to either do a lot of work ourselves or beat the supplier down”.

The project, however, ended up costing less than $30,000 and was operational within 13 days.

Pelgen says a few other packages were examined but the company settled on Microsoft Great Plains.

“It is well-supported and aimed at the mid-market”.

“We expect it will last us at least five years”.

To cut the cost of installing the package, Eclipse recommended that the company use a rapid setup methodology, Pelgen says.

“This required more involvement from us in the design.  We were designing the system as it was rolled out”.

Pelgen says he didn’t feel this approach was risky, as the company was still relatively small, so key people who would use the system could be actively designing it.

There were few issues during the installation, apart from the redesign of some forms.  “Great Plains was historically aimed at inventory-based companies”.

“Being a services company, the process of invoicing is quite different, so we had to rejig the formats”.

Pelgen says the company also underestimated what a big task inputting historical data into the new system would be.

He says the company now has the most current information in the system and is using Vision XL – which has reduced reporting from five to three days – to incorporate current figures with historical data in a spreadsheet.

Since the installation of Great Plains in July last year, Performis says, it has cut regular overheads for producing reports and materials by about 10 per cent, and reduced the time needed to produce the reports by more than 40 per cent.

MYOB has not been retired altogether.  Performis still uses it for payroll and for accessing historical information.

Pelgen says the company is now looking at deploying a web portal so staff can access reports as required.  Presently, reports are emailed out.

A student management system and customer relationship management system are also on the agenda.

THE PROBLEM

Human resources group Performis had outgrown its financial system.

THE PROCESS

It employed a consultant, systems integrator Eclipse, and installed Microsoft Great Plains

THE RESULT

Since the installation, Performis has been able to produce reports more cheaply.  The software has also opened the way for other technological improvements.

By Kelly Mills

www.AustralianIT.com.au

The Australian – Tuesday July 27 2004