I’m going to start this by saying that this ends with a cliché: “You get out of things what you put into them”. Now that that’s out of my system and I’ve lost half of you, I’ll continue.
Everyone wants a fast, painless, process. Even with out of the box implementations, that’s not always the case. Building a good system takes time. Your time as well. You can minimize this by hiring the right consultants and having a clear vision (if you don’t have a vision, work with your consultants), but the investment I’m referring to is your time.
What’s the alternative? It is far easier to keep pumping out the same spreadsheets. They are unwieldy. Full of bad information. Spreadsheets provide limited communication to and from the field. Accumulating them for reporting takes time better spent on analysis. Anyone in a managerial role who is reading this; it is a poor use of highly skilled (and paid) resources time.
Many of you will think that your company isn’t organized enough for enterprise software. Or that your budget process is always changing. Change is a constant in life and in work. How much time do you have for spreadsheets? Can anyone disagree that time spent organizing pays dividends?
Getting back to out of the box solutions. The popular option these days is to have software that is largely pre-built. This works well for companies that will adjust their budgets to the process inherent in these systems (usually small or mid-sized companies willing to adjust). Hyperion and competitors both have these quick starters. They are fast to install, but not as fast as you think. The closer to complete they are, the less flexible and scalable. When it comes to installation, it’s easier to get a technician to do this. The software company is doing the functional side for you. Doing this is still better than a spreadsheet driven process. This is ideal for companies that don’t have a clear vision for their budget and forecasting process but want to move to an enterprise system.
Brass Tacks will be happy to do this type of installation quickly and inexpensively. If you’re looking for something further, we provide value to companies that are looking to get something greater out of the system. As I said at the beginning, you get more out if you put more in. We believe in the investment of a long term relationship with our clients. It’s a partnership and we provide a continuity of resources you can’t get at larger firms. We’re there when you need us, and gain a deeper understanding of your process.
Many of our clients have put in a basic system and call us when they are ready to upgrade to something more substantial. Often at this point, the enterprise system is paying dividends and the company wants to expand on it.