Microsoft Dynamics™ NAV Solution Model Details

The purpose of this document is to describe the concept behind the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Solution Model together with the production process involved. It also outlines the deliverable from the client perspective as well as the commercial approach associated with the process. The scene is set in the context of rapid changes in the business environment together with recent advances in business management systems.

 

Over the last 30 years there has been a tremendous amount of change across the industrialised economies of the world. The breakdown of established trade barriers, globalisation of businesses, new market opportunities and the increasing demands for higher levels of service with lower prices have forced organisations to respond to maintain a competitive edge in their chosen marketplace. Strategies to cope with these changes include the creation of economies of scale through mergers and acquisitions and the adoption of new ways of working to increase productivity and performance.

In no other area have the changes been so dramatic as in the rise in the use of technology – particularly integrated business software solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

Organisations quote the following key business drivers that have fuelled this growth:

• Access to real-time business performance information

• Visibility of commercial information to support senior management decision making

• Increasing sales through accessing new markets and new customers

• Increasing productivity through reducing administration costs

• Reducing costs through the integration of core business processes across the organisation

• Increased flexibility and improved adaptability to changing market conditions

• Increased levels of customer service

Many organisations that have committed their futures to these systems have questioned whether they are truly seeing value for money, as many of the solutions available cannot meet the demands of modern businesses. Even where systems are ‘functionality rich’ the organisations involved in their sales, marketing and implementation fail to understand why organisations are having to change and the effect that working in an integrated environment has on an organisation.

 

A recent survey on the success rates of integrated solutions suggested the following:

• Absolute Success  - Delivered within budget and on-time AND business benefits being measured and achieved

• Absolute failure - Project abandoned or company forced into bankruptcy

• Success (qualified) - System implemented but could be over time, over budget, wrong scope, no business benefits being delivered.

 

 

Research suggests that there are 3 reasons why more organisations are not getting the types of benefit from their investment that they were expecting:

• Failure to simplify and align processes

• Failure to create commitment by people at all levels

• Reliance on technology to solve business problems

At Anglia Business Solutions we recognise and understand these issues. We believe that for companies truly gain the benefits that technology can bring, three key elements must be embraced at the same time:

People and Behaviours
are often an organisations major competitive differentiator, therefore intellectual capital is a precious commodity. Individuals and teams must be organised to work in and understand the process and technology whilst retaining their creative motivation to support and implement change.

Processes
aligned to business strategy and tactical requirements to simply and holistically run an organisation. Processes must efficiently and effectively utilise key resources such as people, material, time and money

Technology
should be used where appropriate as an enabler, not the solution in itself. Chosen and implemented with care it can bring tremendous benefits.
 

The traditional reasons why business management systems failed to deliver their true potential has been the gap in understanding between what the client needs and solution offered by the technology vendor. The tendency has been for both parties to focus on the technology to the detriment of the people and their current processes. The assumption that companies in certain markets operate in the same way has cost both clients and vendors dearly in the past. The reality is that, unless a client has extensively and recently used a business management system, it is rarely possible to evaluate how it will function within their environment. In addition, it is unusual for a vendor to say with certainty that they truly understand a clients specific business.

 

It was to close this gap in understanding that Anglia Business Solutions launched the concept of a solution model in 1998. The company was the first Solution Centre in the UK to develop and deploy the model, which was based on real life deployment experiences with Microsoft Dynamics NAV technology. The approach has been the foundation of some of the most sophisticated deployments of the system in the UK and which have been the topic of a number of published solutions in action.

What do we deliver?

We have developed a consultancy approach and a skill set that is aimed at identifying how you currently work. It also defines your requirements based on the business drivers within your organisation. Once these are understood, we add value to the process by exploring alternative methods based on proven practices on other installations.

Put simply we aim to:

• Increase the probability of successful benefits delivery from 10% to 80%

• Reduce the total implementation costs of more traditional consultancies

• Demystify technology and talk in business terms that are meaningful to our customers

How do we do it?

We follow a structured two-step, ‘Proven Path’, whilst integrating the three key elements for success, focusing all the time on delivering tangible business benefits.

 

Solution Model

In order to reduce implementation timescales, reduce costs and increase the chances of successful benefits delivery it is essential to identify in advance your exact business requirements now, and into the future. In this way we use our technical and business expertise to identify the best way to use a combination of standard Microsoft Dynamics NAV together with custom elements to give you the ‘best fit’.

 

The three key elements of the Solution Model are:

• Knowledge Acquisition: we gain an intimate understanding of our customers’ business strategies and key operational drivers

• Holistic Approach: leverage this knowledge to propose a complete, integrated solution yielding an unprecedented level of value

• Knowledge Transfer: Apply “best practice” thinking and industry benchmarking to the customer’s business

The Solution Model was developed to address the needs of a rapidly evolving marketplace. Our customers are gaining a more sophisticated understanding of their businesses and therefore their information requirements.

Our intention is to demonstrate proof of concept of our solutions well beyond a “feature/function” discussion. We have a solution suite that can directly and dramatically impact the bottom line. The objective of the Solution Model is to demonstrate and validate this value in the fastest, most cost effective manner. This process saves our customers considerable time, money and effort in very quickly understanding how the Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution fits their business and their information requirements.

From the outset we involve as many people as possible in the conceptual design, this is a deliberate policy as it ensures buy-in at a very early stage to the changes that the organisation is likely to make. In addition, we investigate your current business processes through structured questioning designed to allow us to provide a full cost/benefit analysis as part of the conceptual design.

The rationale behind the process is that Microsoft Dynamics NAV offers much more than a standard package because it allows customisation of the product to meet your specific needs - after all, every business operates in a different way. If you implement a package, you must fit the business to the package. With Microsoft Dynamics NAV you can change your business processes to fit the package BUT you can also change the package to fit your business processes. Because there are more options, we need to gain a good understanding of your business in order to advise how Microsoft Dynamics NAV should be deployed to achieve competitive advantage.

Solution Model Contents

A typical solution model will include the following elements:

Executive Summary
A summary of your business environment and the company’s strategic and financial goals?

A high level description of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV overall solution

A summarized business and financial impact of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution

Business Overview / Operational Issues

An overview of the key business processes under review – scope and objectives

An assessment of the key issues that need addressing

Issue Resolution / Microsoft Dynamics NAV Suite Solution

A detailed description of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV product offering focused on resolving the specific operational issues

High level overview of "how" the issues will be resolved – how will the Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution impact the key business metrics

An illustration of the technological architecture and business process architecture of the proposed solution

Implementation Roadmap / Obstacle Identification

A brief outline of the major sequence of events involved in the implementation

Identification of any major concerns with regards to data integrity, architectural, or organisational obstacles that may be apparent at this time

Identify how the customer can facilitate the process by providing resources on eliminating any such obstacles

Financial / Business Impact

A description of the financial value of a well implemented Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution

A Return On Investment or Cost/Benefit Analysis

 

Project Costs

This will depend on the size and nature of the change project that you are considering embarking upon. A typical exercise can take as little as five days or as long as thirty. However, the thirty-man day project examined the entire business processes of a 14 department £100 million manufacturing and distribution company.

We also believe in the principle of ‘shared risk’. If you are willing to invest in us then we are willing to invest in you. This means that we will refund half of the cost of the Solution Model consultancy if you decide to deploy the solution we have proposed. If you decide not to, then we will charge 100% of the business analysis BUT you also have an in-depth business analysis study to go forward with.
 

Utilisation

The Solution Model acts as a ‘roadmap’ it allows both Anglia and our customers to make decisions on how to move forward. Once it is completed we will present our findings and suggested approach for final sign off BEFORE you commit to any additional expenditure.

Following successful implementation, we use the Solution Model, in conjunction with our customers, to measure the benefits that have accrued.

Ingredients of a good Solution Model

Summary
The solution model process launched by Anglia Business Solutions in 1998 has been the foundation of many excellent Microsoft Dynamics NAV deployments across a wide variety of industries in the UK. It has assisted in closing the gap in understanding between client’s needs and business processes and the facilities provided by the system. It also supplies the client with an implementation roadmap together with a pricing estimate that is invariably close to eventual project costs. As such, it has protected the interests of both parties while providing the framework of a partnership arrangement based on common business oriented goals.