Microsoft Dynamics: One System to Rule Them All

When you need to find the latest information on your customers, do you always find it in the first place you look? Most organizations maintain data across several different systems, including a financial system, a CRM system, possibly a quoting tool, or even spreadsheets and databases. When it’s time to look up something as simple as the new mailing address for a customer, we end up looking for it in each place to make sure we have the right one.  On the other hand, when information needs to be updated, we tend to only update one system instead of all. Sound familiar?

Think about how much time it would save if you had one system that was accurate and up to date all the time.  It would interface with your other systems and update them with the latest information, making sure all systems stay accurate and dependable. This has several benefits – you always know where to look, and you only need to update one system instead of many to make changes across all of them. Plus, it prevents incorrect information from being used by mistake. While it still makes business sense to have multiple systems, life is much easier when you establish one system to rule all others.

How do you transition from multiple systems to a single system? As mentioned in our previous post, the first step before making any software decisions is to know your company goals and strategies. Technology should always align with your business, not the other way around.

In order to achieve the benefits of having a single system of record, consider the following steps:
1.  Identify your financial data.  Facilitate a meeting with all stakeholders to identify where your data currently lives. In most organizations, it makes sense for the ERP solution to be the system of record because it needs to interface across several different areas of the organization. This includes solutions like Dynamics NAV, GP and AX.
2. Identify your customer data.  If you are already using a CRM solution, make sure it meets your specific business and industry needs and is still supported by your partner or vendor. If not, it may be time to start looking at newer systems.
3. Focus on change management. Providing proper training and leadership will help your team transition seamlessly to the improved, more efficient way of working in the new system.

Obviously, there are many decisions to make on the road to improved data integrity, but let us worry about the complexities.  At OmniVue, we believe that technology decisions are secondary, and we won’t make recommendations to you without first having a clear understanding of your business strategy and goals.  Keep imagining what it would be like if you had one system to rule all the others.  We’ll be here to help when you are ready.

By OmniVue, a Georgia Microsoft Dynamics Partner