System Integrators: To exploit new opportunities, plan for profitability from the start

Has the pandemic shrunk your billable hours, or put a ceiling on revenue growth? You’re not alone. The professional IT services industry is facing technological change, stiff competitors, price-conscious buyers, and a shrinking talent pool. So it’s key to seize new opportunities when the outlook makes sense.

Velosio just posted an e-book explaining why small-to-midsized businesses are a market too big—and too underserved—for system integrators to ignore. Download the e-book today for enlightening insights into this large, lucrative market. For now, here’s a short recap:

• SMBs are resilient and innovative. They generate most new private jobs in the American economy.
• They are leaders in adopting cloud technology. They need system integrators to protect their cloud investments and achieve their business transformation goals.
• Most SMBs are rebounding from the pandemic with IT budgets equal too, and often much larger than, their pre-pandemic budgets.
• For many SMBs, the coronavirus crisis has been the catalyst for reexamining their entire business models. One result has been an accelerating shift of SMB IT spending to system integrators.

These are some of the reasons why system integrators, in particular, are well positioned to help SMBs capitalize on their cloud investments.

However, ask yourself the key question—a question your business should answer for EVERY target market: How can we serve SMBs profitably?

Costs and revenue happen every day—and so should your profit checkups.

For project-oriented businesses like yours, profits don’t just happen. You need the perfect intersection of planning and execution to assign resources, track all project dollars, and know when a project is going off track. That’s impossible to achieve if:

• You’re using disjointed systems and procedures for project accounting, time and expenses, and project planning.
• You lack robust tools for managing remote, collaborative teams.
• You can’t figure out how profitable a new project will be ahead of time.
• Throughout the course of a project, you don’t have a tight grip—every day—on where money is being made or lost.

If your business is relying on disjointed, offline, batch processes in an on-premises environment, you have a backward view of profitability. You can’t get timely insights from monthly or quarterly reports. To keep project profitability on track, you need to pinpoint what’s happening along the way.

Put profitability first, not last.

Here are four ways system integrators can better serve small and medium-sized businesses:

1. Shine a light on hidden costs. With the right tools, it’s easy to track, view and analyze costs and revenues for every project in progress. Get the information you need in real-time. The key is to track as you go, not at the end of the accounting period
2. Take the guesswork out of budgeting. Tightly integrated systems, along with a flexible, comprehensive approach to budgeting, set the stage for profitability and growth. You’ll have a clear view of projects from creation through completion.
3. Knock down sales and delivery silos. Profitability can’t happen without strong collaboration between sales and delivery teams. Everyone has easy access to the most current, real-time information. That results in faster decisions, more accurate quotes, improved service delivery, and more satisfied clients.
4. Build on your successes. Use a library of activity templates to create the right template for a new project.

Meet the project profitability experts.

If you are interested in cloud-based technology that will make profitability the hallmark of your operations, talk to Velosio. We offer an unbeatable combination of modern Microsoft technology, 30 years’ experience as a Microsoft partner, and deep expertise in project profitability—which is the lifeblood of your business.

Let us introduce you to Advanced Projects for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. It’s a single, cloud-based system with everything you need to plan for profitability from the start. Operating on Microsoft’s acclaimed Azure platform, it allows users remote access from anywhere, on any device.

In addition to the strong CRM and business management functionality of Dynamics 365, you get integrated tools for:

• Flexible project forecasting
• Powerful project planning, estimating and budgeting
• Project resource management
• Easy mobile time and expense entry
• Advanced inventory management
• Subcontractor management
• Advanced inventory management
• Billing
• Revenue recognition
• Time and expense tracking
• Analytics (dashboards, reporting, forecasting, and more)

Plan for these payoffs.

Advanced Projects for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

As a professional services business focused on project profitability, make sure you know what outcomes to expect from upgrading financial and project management technology. Here’s what Advanced Projects for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central delivers:

One stop for time entry, management and approval – Entry and approval of time and expense is executed from within one application, on any device, from anywhere. Robust capability provides end-to-end time capture for employees in a single system.

Better resource utilization and profitability – Get full resource planning information, including resource planning reports. Ensure maximum utilization and identify trends for hiring, staffing adjustments and training needs. Easily manage subcontractors including selection, agreements, and change orders.

Flexible budgeting tools – Create planning budgets at transaction and date levels, so if dates move, planning budgets will reflect those changes. You can see the impacts of different budget views with multiple variants, including what if’s, timeline and change orders.

Simplified project creation – Set up projects using the Project Wizard, which asks important questions up front and creates projects in a more uniform manner. Accountants and project managers can set up projects remotely without being in the same office. Easily create a budget quote without assigning resources; you can then assign resources at the time of project engagement.

Faster creation of invoices – Immediate invoicing will bypass need to run lengthy processes. Invoice as frequently as needed, and edit and adjust with ease. Use subscription billing for deferred invoicing with revenue recognition in compliance with GAAP standards.

Easily add data, users or acquisitions – Stop trying to shoehorn modern needs into outdated processes. Easily import data, scale up or down—whether you’re adding new users, getting a new company on board or managing years of complex data.

Reports designed for your business – With connected data across accounting, sales, purchasing, inventory, and customer transactions, you have a better view into operations. Chart financial performance in real time with built-in Power BI dashboards. Identify patterns and trends to gain insight with in-depth analysis tools. Personalized dashboards and role-specific help to keep your business on track.

Accurate and flexible inventory management – Allocate inventory to projects and use budgets to create purchase orders. Use serialized inventory and BIN processing in Sales and Purchasing as well as Journals and Expense.

Where to get started

We suggest you invest an hour in reading three papers, all packed with tips, industry trends, and information you can use.

1. System Integrators: Don’t Miss Out on the SMB Market – This is the e-book discussed in the beginning of this post. Learn why old perceptions of SMBs’ IT spending should be scrapped. The e-book covers how SMBs have coped with the pandemic, why they are embracing cloud technology, and what competition to expect in this market.
2. Got Projects? Solve Your Toughest Business Challenges and Increase Profitability in the Cloud – This e-book examines five threats facing professional services firms, four factors driving project-based businesses to cloud computing, and four key benefits of using the right software and technology services platform.
3. Plan for Profitability from the Start – This paper gives you a closer look at the tools and capabilities included in Advanced Projects for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central—such as the Project Setup Wizard, Budget Matrix, resource and scenario-based budgeting, flexible forecasting, milestone billing, subcontractor management, and much more.

Download the PDFs now for vital insights into making your business more profitable.