Apex enjoys major cost savings with Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision) and Tectura
Following a management buyout in July 2005 the strategy set by the new board of directors required that the many different aging business systems and nine different databases were replaced with one system and one database that would provide all the functionality needed by the business.
"The actual implementation was very smooth, Tectura were very thorough at gathering our requirements and also advising us on how to get the best out of Microsoft Dynamics® NAV" Duncan Bulley - Managing Director of Apex.
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BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Apex is a provider of infrastructure systems and services based around three vendors, IBM, Cisco and Microsoft. Apex is a dynamic company that has grown steadily over the years. Currently they employ seventy staff and service their customers from offices in Cirencester. They are an IBM Premier Business Partner, a Cisco Premier Business Partner and Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.
In July 2005 the business was subject to a management buyout which resulted in a renewed strategy and plans for dramatic growth. The new Board of Directors planned to develop Apex from being simply a provider of infrastructure solutions to providing a more strategic service that would see their consultancy and services revenue grow. This strategy was deemed crucial for differentiating Apex from their competitors and increasing profit.
At the time of the management buyout Apex were using many different and aging systems to manage their business. Like many businesses that have grown quickly Apex found itself in a position whereby a different system was being used for each major function and none of these systems were linked. The incumbent systems, including Pegasus and Zenith and 9 different databases, had been in place for 6 to 7 years and although they all did their jobs individually there was no end to end view of the business and staff where having to key the same data into different databases.
In addition Apex identified the following specific problems with the systems that would, if they continued using them, preclude Apex from achieving their growth plan:
- Lack of visibility of sales pipeline
- Inability to forecast accurately
- Difficulty in managing debtors
- Lack of quality data for management reporting
- Lack of control over processes involving more than one department
- Inability to analyse the profitability of individual customer projects
Apex knew that the only way forward was to replace all their existing systems with one Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application and one database.
The challenge was to find a system that could be used by all areas of Apex’s business which includes finance, opportunity & lead management, sales, presales, project implementation and procurement. After talking to various companies within their industry about what systems they were using Apex drew up a shortlist of two, they were Microsoft Dynamics NAV and SAP Business One. An internal project team that included representatives from all areas of Apex’s business was created to analyse each product and to make a decision on which one was the most suitable for their business.
CHOOSING AN ERP SOLUTION
Following a thorough investigation Apex chose Microsoft Dynamics NAV because it had all the functionality they needed to run their business and because of Microsoft’s commitment to investing in the product in the future. In addition Apex felt they could build a good working relationship with the Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution provider, Tectura.
Apex’s Managing Director Duncan Bulley takes up the story "We met several people from Tectura during the selection process and at all stages we found them professional and knowledgeable. More than that we were confident that we could build a good working relationship with Tectura whose consultants and developers understood our business requirements and wanted to work with us to provide the system that delivered real benefits to our business".
Using their Tectura Solution Framework (TSF) methodology Tectura was able to plan and manage the implementation. Tectura and Apex staff formed a joint project team that worked closely together to complete the implementation.
The first phase of the project was gathering requirements from the users. Tectura recommended that as far as possible Apex should use the standard functionality of Microsoft Dynamics NAV with as little bespoke code development as possible. When the requirements were understood, Tectura’s consultants were able to configure Microsoft Dynamics NAV and to specify the small amount of bespoke code that was required.
In addition to Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Tectura also implemented two of their own products: Tectura Workflow and Tectura Project. These products are particularly suitable for the IT services industry because Tectura Project allocates resources to a particular project enabling Apex to understand which projects are the most profitable and Tectura Workflow ensures that processes that span various departments are coordinated and completed on time.
The configured system was tested and when Apex were happy that the system worked as expected, the data from the various existing systems was migrated to Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The system went live in July 2006 and all seventy Apex staff now use it on a day to day basis.
Duncan Bulley believes that a key part of the success of the project was everyone within Apex’s business understood the need for the new system and worked together to ensure the transition was as smooth as possible.
Duncan comments "the actual implementation was very smooth, Tectura were very thorough at gathering our requirements and also advising us on how to get the best out of Microsoft Dynamics NAV".
BENEFITS OF MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV
Since the system went live Apex has reported excellent trading results. Apex’s first half-year of trading for 2006/07 has seen positives from all areas of their business, with year on year profit growth running at 16%.
Gross margin for the first half of the year was 5% higher than target and operating profit was 21% higher than budget. The revenue coming from services sat at 30%, in line with their overall objectives and fixed costs remain in tight control and at expected levels.
"It is great to see that we are exceeding our growth targets since the system went live. Of course these results are because of the hard work of all Apex staff however I firmly believe we could not deliver such a strong performance without replacing our disparate systems with Microsoft Dynamics NAV" says Duncan.
"I am delighted that Apex Computers have realised the benefits they were expecting from the implementation of one end to end solution for managing their entire business. At Tectura we are finding that the IT services industry is becoming more aware of the benefits of moving away from many disparate systems to one. This is particularly true when Microsoft Dynamics NAV is implemented with Tectura Workflow and Tectura Project as is the case with Apex" says Graham Frazer, Managing Director, Tectura UK.
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