microsoft dynamics optimisation
TRANSCRIPT
Microsoft Dynamics Optimisation
Five ways to bolster your competitiveness with technology
2 Five ways to bolster your competitiveness with technology
We must be able to get more out of our Dynamics solution!Occasionally, business decision makers are haunted by a nasty feeling of not getting enough out of the investment they have made in business-critical solutions. Are we using the full functionality of the platform? Are we good at creating links between the core solution and the many business applications we have access to? Have users taken on the latest tools, or are they quickly switching back to bad habits? This nagging feeling does not disappear by itself and is only amplified as more parts of the business are digitised.
“The question is: do we use the full functionality of the platform?””
Across businesses and industries, frustration is often rooted in one of two issues:
First, a business has failed to carry out the necessary comprehensive research into an investment in Microsoft Dynamics. It is difficult to reap the benefits of such a significant strategic decision when you have not clearly defined the operational actions needed to drive the desired change in day-to-day processes among end users.
Secondly, the unprecedented potential of Dynamics typically depends on a company not having the insights or resources to capitalise on their investment. Microsoft Dynamics has so many possibilities that both operating and developing the platform today is a specialist discipline, best conducted by dedicated experts.
In this whitepaper, we launch five initiatives that optimise Microsoft Dynamics’ value, to strength business competitiveness.
Happy reading!
3 Microsoft Dynamics Optimisation
Content
Migrate to the Cloud and say goodbye to everyday hassles 4
Make the most of the platform’s features 6
Rely on users to create value 8
Organisation is the key to operation and development 10
Business needs and costs must be aligned 12
AlfaPeople as a Microsoft Dynamics partner 14
4 Five ways to bolster your competitiveness with technology
Compared to on-premise versions of Microsoft Dynamics, the Cloud provides Microsoft Dynamics 365 users a wide range of operational and strategic benefits. Many of these are well-known and well-documented, including:
1. Greater functionality. Access to Cloud’s core functionality as well as ongoing releases of new product features.
2. Greater flexibility. A scalable License Model offering changes on a monthly basis.
3. Increased agility. Compared with an on-premise solution, a Cloud solution allows for faster response to new trends.
4. Greater competitive edge. More focus on business development and less on basic operations and maintenance.
5. Broader services and integration options. Access to a wider range of business applications via Microsoft AppSource and Azure Marketplace.
1. Migrate to the Cloud and say goodbye to everyday hassles
Most companies know that they can optimise their Dynamics solution by migrating to the Cloud, but that in itself isn’t interesting. What is interesting is why they haven’t done so yet. For some, it may be a matter of timing. For others, it might be reluctance. If that’s the attitude among the company´s IT decision makers, there is good reason to be concerned.
Cloud solutions not only mark a technological paradigm shift, but also represent a showdown with a longstanding culture among IT managers who prioritize operational tasks in their own data center. With cloud solutions it has never been easier, faster and cheaper to optimize business processes using new technology. But it requires the company’s own IT resources to focus on development tasks and user training. Otherwise, you use all your strength trying to maintain the status quo, and don’t gain any greater market share.
How AlfaPeople
can help you
We help companies migrate to the Cloud with the AlfaPeople Cloud Migration program - an end-to-end programme that ensures an on-premise solution is successfully migrated to the Microsoft Dynamics 365 online platform. Read more here
5 Microsoft Dynamics Optimisation
”What our customers say: “The business value that we expect to get from good collaboration with AlfaPeople, implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365, is a great opportunity for us to utilize data for marketing and business analysis.”
Niels Agerup, Director of Market at Ase.
5 Microsoft Dynamics Optimization
6 Five ways to bolster your competitiveness with technology
2. Make the most of the platform’s featuresA qualified guess is that companies today only use between 15 and 25 percent of the functionality of their Dynamics platform. The company is either unaware of the remaining 75-85 percent or there are no resources available to train the end users on how to use these latent tools. In addition, a lot of money and time is wasted developing functionality and creating integrations that already come as standard in the Dynamics platform or are automatically supported by business applications developed by Microsoft’s partners.
If you are alone in this battle, it may seem impossible to sort through the range of options and focus on those that create the highest business value quickly. If you make decisions on collaborating with external specialists, you get a perspective that is based on experiences from similar companies in similar industries – at home and abroad. Staying updated on the Dynamics platform is something of an expert discipline, in a similar way to ensuring the application always follows a company’s business strategy, functionality needs, industry requirements and employee make-up.
Project Service Automation
Retail
Finance & Operations
Field Service
Customer Service
Talent
Marketing
Sales
AlfaPeople AMS allows companies to outsource support and maintenance tasks to an external specialist team at AlfaPeople. Users and management get the tools needed for successful day-to-day operations, while AlfaPeople’s consultants fuel the partnership with industry insights, so the company can make the most of opportunities in future technology. Read more about AlfaPeople AMS here.
How AlfaPeople
can help you
7 Microsoft Dynamics Optimisation
”What our customers say: “AlfaPeople’s Managed Services help proactively support our businesses critical applications. Their team is always available to support our needs, enabling us to focus on our core business and stay on top in an everchanging world.”
Chris Gray, Vice President, Business Management, Swiss Farms.
7 Microsoft Dynamics Optimization
8 Five ways to bolster your competitiveness with technology
Oftentimes, an investment in Microsoft Dynamics is made in response to management’s desire to increase employee efficiency or gain deeper insight into the core business. The danger of this approach is that in our zest for focusing on strategic business value, we forget about how business value is created on the ground, on a daily basis. New functionality, new workflows and new processes must be accepted and used by the organisation’s many end users. If they are not convinced that the investment in new Dynamics tools improves their daily workflows, the investment does not achieve the transformative effect that was the basis of the project. In short: no user support = no change. No change = no effect. No effect = no business value.
An investment in new Microsoft Dynamics functionality should therefore be considered as an investment in improved user value. Through training, users are positioned to drive change and optimise workflows, fusing operational tools and strengthening the organisation’s competitive edge. This user focus can be found in the Dynamics solution itself, where tools such as Learning Path give the individual end user contextual support in their daily tasks.
3. Rely on users to create value
AlfaPeople Usage Monitoring Service can see how the end-user engages with the system – all the way down to which user has made changes to data. This means that the company can evaluate the quality of data and the effect of different training activities. Read more about this in the blog The operational value of a CRM solution sets the bar for strategic value here.
How AlfaPeople
can help you
9 Microsoft Dynamics Optimisation
”What our customers say: “The experience with AlfaPeople was good, the company has very capable consultants with great trajectory in implementation of Dynamics, so their comprehensive knowledge of the function allowed us to design and implement the system in an efficient and effective way.”
Juan Pablo Parra, IT Director, HunterDouglas.
9 Microsoft Dynamics Optimization
10 Five ways to bolster your competitiveness with technology
4. Organization is the key to operation and developmentNot so long ago, it was a common belief that one internal resource or one permanent in-house consultant could be both operating and developing a company´s Microsoft Dynamics solution. There was nothing wrong with this. But times have changed! Today, market development and the complexities of the enterprise IT landscape demand a different organisational setup. High risk and unnecessary dependency are the consequences of one resource having sole responsibility for maintaining a Dynamics solution. Today, it is a task for a host of complementary IT resources that have the local insight, global vision and expert skills to continuously enhance the effectiveness of the company’s Dynamics platform.
Businesses are generally good at establishing project organisation and allocating resources to implement a solution. But what happens when the project is completed and operational users need to drive future changes? Is your business skillful enough to take the right steps after implementation, when the realities of your day-to-day business hit? When establishing an organization around Dynamics, it is important that different resources are responsible for development and operation. The former has an eye for innovation and rethinking its own practice; the latter must ensure stability that supports a focus on development. These are two very different task descriptions.
With the AlfaPeople AMS, the company eliminates dependency and replaces it with high operational stability that supports business growth and strengthens competitiveness. Read more about AlfaPeople AMS here.
How AlfaPeople
can help you
11 Microsoft Dynamics Optimisation
”What our customers say: “Thanks to AlfaPeople during this process we felt very supported. This was due to the fact that they understood very well the needs of our organisation and managed the integrations of processes between the different areas efficiently.”
Hilda Christina Álzate, Operations VP, Findeter
11 Microsoft Dynamics Optimization
12 Five ways to bolster your competitiveness with technology
5. Business needs andcosts must be alignedMany companies pay more for their Dynamics solution than they need to. Some of the confusion arises as a result of Microsoft´s licensing structure, which can be difficult to understand. When does it make sense to buy a Plan, Team or App License? What user requirements do you have in your organisation? And how many licenses have you purchased that are never used?
In the same vein, there are also companies that can optimise their purchase of consulting hours. A supplier agreement must reflect the same flexibility that is innate to Dynamics itself. In practice, this means that – depending on (sudden) need – it should be possible to purchase entire Dynamics projects, regular visits by a consultant on a voucher scheme, and loose ad hoc resources. If a Dynamics partner cannot offer this kind of flexibility, where one can freely determine performance and engagement levels, the delivery model will govern the time and quality of the task, and rarely is this a recipe for an effectiveness with costs.
As a service in the AlfaPeople AMS, we have a standardised licensing model that involves reviewing a company’s licensing structure, user needs, etc. and ensures that the company does not pay for more functionality than is needed.Similarly, we cooperate with both near and offshore teams, who perform routine tasks in close cooperation with our system architects. The combination of these resources ensures that the company never pays neither too much nor too little. Read more about the AlfaPeople AMS here!
How AlfaPeople
can help you
Voucher
Time spent
Consulting Hours
Flexibility
Ad hoc resources
13 Microsoft Dynamics Optimisation
”What our customers say: “Over these last few years, we have considered AlfaPeople as true business partners who always support us in all our needs, with a relationship based on trust and quality in service delivery.”
Marcelo Barroso, Sales Manager, MicroCity.
13 Microsoft Dynamics Optimization
14 Five ways to bolster your competitiveness with technology
AlfaPeople as aMicrosoft Dynamics PartnerAt AlfaPeople, we will neither under-sell nor over-sell a solution. Our goal is to act as a trusted advisor, at whichever point along our client’s digital journey.
Sometimes, we recommend companies implement the full version of a new solution, if we can see that the company is ripe and has the bandwidth to complete a major project. But as often as we recommend companies divide the project into smaller bids, an organisation is often working on one successful implementation at a time. We are good friends with Microsoft, and we know the Microsoft Dynamics platform like the back of our hand. But we are even better friends with our customers, who should be able to trust us to provide impartial advice aimed at ROI and improving their competitiveness.
The five optimisation measures in this whitepaper can, in principle, be handled exclusively using internal resources. But they are all standard services at AlfaPeople and are managed by a team of experts that have the Microsoft Dynamics platform as their primary area of competency.
To remind you, the 5 optimisation measures to keep your business competitive and scalable are:
1. Move your on-premise Dynamics solution into the cloud
2. Use specialists to ensure full use of the Dynamics platform
3. Use end-users to create the desired change, effect, and business value
4. Ensure focus on development with dedicated team after completion of project implementation
5. Secure flexibility in the supplier agreement when purchasing services
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