What Does It Take to Succeed in Today’s Market for Microsoft Dynamics?

An interview with Elliot Fishman, CEO of Catapult ERP

Being the CEO of my own company, one of the questions I get asked the most is, “What does it take to succeed in today’s market?” While there are many different factors–each one an important element of success–there are a couple that I want to highlight: Know your focus, know your product and trust your team.

To illustrate these points, I’d like to introduce you to Catapult ERP. Catapult ERP is a Dynamics NAV and CRM Value-Added Reseller (VAR) based out of Vancouver, BC. Catapult ERP has been in business almost eight years, and started as the ERP practice of the Habanero Consulting Group where their CEO, Elliot Fishman, was a partner and their now-VP of Client Development, Jeff Bacon, was a senior manager. Catapult ERP spun off from there in 2011 and has been growing at a rate of over 70 percent per year since.

So what’s the secret of Catapult’s success? Let’s take a look at three factors that Fishman offers other companies in this space.

1. Know Your Focus

How did Catapult choose the focus of Dynamics NAV and CRM rather than GP, SL or AX?

“We decided to focus on midsize businesses. Both NAV and CRM can really help companies that are going through extensive transition and growth,” said Fishman. “With a large installed base for both solutions, our value proposition, which is focused on long-term support and performance improvement, really has a chance to resonate.

“The advantage to this focus is that both products are versatile, scalable, and can serve a variety of industries. The work is always different and challenging.”

For Fishman, the fact that Microsoft is investing a lot into making Dynamics CRM extremely robust means that Catapult can continue to stay focused on this product for a long time to come.

As for NAV, it is used by over 100,000 companies globally (according to a recent survey by ERP Software Blog) and is positioned to be more than just an ERP solution.

“It’s a hub for all your business activity with an extensive lineup of ISV add-ons and extensibility with Office 365,” said Fishman.

Fishman’s response shows a company and executive team with a clear focus on who their target market is and, just as importantly, who it isn’t. Their focus is helping companies who need assistance transitioning through the growing pains that any successful company eventually has to face. They’re not trying to chase down every possible customer or going outside their comfort zone. They know what they’re good at and base their reputation on being the best at that task.

Just as importantly, they’ve decided to specialize in a real service that will help them provide that very assistance to their customers, which brings us to our second factor.

2. Know Your Offerings or Product

Catapult focuses on deployments that roll out seamlessly, continued support each step of the way, and managed services that stay up with clients’ evolving needs. They know their strengths and that’s where they stay focused.

“We expect that there will be increasing demand for support around business processes and how to make the most sense of all of the information that you have access to,” said Fishman. “There will be more of an emphasis on delivering business outcomes, rather than simply IT consulting services – that’s why we emphasize long-term support and managed services in our business model because it focuses on helping businesses get the most out of their existing NAV and CRM systems.

3. Know Your Market

You must know your focus, know what you’re going to sell, and the final tip is to know to whom you’re going to sell it. You have to know your market.

“Partly due to the way AX has been marketed, there is sometimes a perception that there is a limit on the size of company that NAV will ‘fit’ based on users alone (say, no more than 100). This simply isn’t the case,” said Fishman. “There are many more factors that impact fit – like operational complexity, for one. There is an opportunity to change the perception of NAV and its ability to serve a wider range of businesses, including larger companies.”

No matter what industry you’re in, knowing it forwards and backwards and staying up on the latest trends and research is key. Luckily, Microsoft makes this easy with annual conferences like Convergence and reImagine, and user groups all across the country.

Dynamics is a growing and changing space, offering opportunities for resellers and software vendors alike. As more and more companies choose to implement a Dynamics product, these companies will continue to seek new ways to make the product more useful for their company and get the most from their investment.

What tips would you add regarding ways to succeed in the Dynamics space? Let us know in the comment section below!

About the Author: Curt Finch is the CEO of Journyx, a Certified Microsoft Partner. Journyx maximizes the value of Microsoft Dynamics by adding enterprise time tracking. Journyx Accountlink for Microsoft Dynamics allows companies to quickly implement a complete time tracking solution using existing business data in Dynamics. Connect with Curt on Google+.

About Journyx

A Certified Microsoft Partner, Journyx enterprise time and expense tracking software is an add-on that integrates with Microsoft Dynamics GP as well as Project Accounting. Learn more at http://journyx.com/dynamics.

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