Women’s Health USA Professional Services Company Finds the Right Microsoft Dynamics GP Software Partner to Handle Complex Project Requirements
Customer: Women’s Health USA
Website: www.whusa.com
Location: Avon, CT
Former System: Lawson
Industry: Professional Services
Customer Profile
Women’s Health USA is a large managed professional services organization that partners with doctors’ offices to provide back office services such as HR, billing, collections, and legal services.
Download: Professional Services Company Finds the Right Microsoft Dynamics GP Software Partner to Handle Complex Project Requirements – Women’s Health USA
“We love working with CAL Business Solutions, everyone is very responsive and friendly…I feel CAL has the skill level to handle a complicated organization like ours.”
Jennifer Decker, Controller, In Vitro Sciences
Women’s Health USA is a large managed services organization in Avon, Connecticut that partners with doctors’ offices to provide services such physical practice management, insurance and risk management, managed care contracting, revenue enhancement services, clinical support, clinical trials, and patient relations. Their success depends largely on the strength of their back-office software systems that support these services.
From Lawson ERP to Microsoft Dynamics GP
In 2005 Women’s Health decided to replace their outdated Lawson ERP system with Microsoft Dynamics GP. Although they experienced immediate increases in efficiency with the new system, they needed a Dynamics VAR that could handle the complexity of their business before they fully realized the benefits. Jennifer Decker, In Vitro Sciences Controller at Women’s Health USA, comments on the experience:
Analysis Shows Time Wasted By Outdated System: “We did an analysis of the number of journal entries we made every month to correct errors in the system and realized a large amount of time we were wasting. As soon as we finished closing the books for one month, it would be time to start again. The Lawson ERP system had not been updated in so long that it was not intuitive, not user-friendly, and not easy to manipulate. It was difficult to find and analyze information.”
Dynamics GP is a Huge Time Saver: “Now that we have switched to Dynamics GP, the difference is like night and day. It is so easy to get to our data. I love the SmartList feature. I regularly drill down from a query all the way back to an invoice. I can set up an analysis using an existing SmartList template, and export the data into my analysis file; then all the look-ups and updates are done automatically. These are just huge time savers. This gives us time to work on other projects that are important to the company.”
Dynamics GP is Intuitive and User-Friendly: “When we hire someone new, I don’t make Dynamics GP experience a pre-requisite because it’s so easy to learn; we can just train the right person. It’s intuitive and user-friendly.”
Finding the Right Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner
Each new Women’s Health project has a complex set of requirements. The ERP system manages 25 users and 18 separate companies with complex inter-company relationships, allocations, and cost sharing needs. The companies also have complicated contract and invoicing processes as well as several custom applications integrated into their ERP systems.
Women’s Health originally purchased Dynamics GP from a Dynamics VAR outside their local area. Jennifer Decker comments:
Fixed Price Underestimated Project Scope: “I believe the original VAR underestimated the scope and complexity of the work to be done, which resulted in cost and time overruns. This created a lot of tension and resulted in many delays to get problems fixed. Both sides were unhappy, and we decided it would be better to find a new Dynamics partner in our local area.”
Skill Level to Handle a Complicated Company: “We love working with CAL Business Solutions; everyone is very responsive and friendly. One of the things I appreciate most about working with the CAL team is that they know us personally; they know our abilities and experience, so they can tailor their answers based on our level of understanding. They really listen and read the information I send; they don’t waste my time by writing back to ask me a question I have already answered or suggest I try a basic fix, which I have certainly already tried. Of course, there are always going to be bumps when you do projects; that’s generally expected and we have complicated requirements. But I feel CAL has the skill level to handle a complicated organization like ours. We just love the people at CAL.”
Personal Attention at Events: “We have sent people from our company to Convergence (the annual Microsoft Dynamics user conference) and the local Connecticut CAL customers events for the past several years. The CAL team always gives us personal attention and valuable input at these events to help us choose the new features and add on products that would be best for our business.”
Smooth Microsoft Dynamics GP Upgrade
Women’s Health was pleased at how smooth the upgrade was from Dynamics GP Version 10.0 to Version 2010 with the help of CAL Business Solutions. Dana Northey, Accounting Manager at Women’s Health, discusses the experience:
Strong Project Management: “For the first time, we assigned a dedicated project manager on our team to work with the project manager at CAL Business Solutions. This really helped to keep our team on point and on schedule. Our CAL project manager was fantastic. I can’t say enough good things about him. Strong project management was essential to the success of our upgrade.”
Focused Testing Period: “Together with CAL, we did extensive testing of our system prior to the upgrade including a complete test upgrade environment. We arranged for our team to make testing a priority, so it could be done quickly and in an organized way. This allowed us to identify and fix issues without losing focus. In the past, testing was done over an extended period of time, which was inefficient. This time, we were able to go live immediately after the testing period.”
CAL Developers Fixed Custom Code: “We have several third party/ISV products and custom applications. CAL helped us to thoroughly test each of these to confirm that they would function properly after the upgrade. In one instance, a program had a code that was not compatible with GP 2010. Because CAL has its own development team on staff, it was able to fix the custom code for us without having to involve another programming company.”
Women’s Health now has an up-to-date Microsoft Dynamics GP ERP system that is intuitive and easy to use, resulting in substantial time savings each month. After looking for the right partner to support their system for long term growth, Women’s Health feels that CAL Business Solutions has the resources and experience needed to work with large clients with complex requirements.
“Because CAL has its own development team on staff, it was able to fix the custom code for us without having to involve another programming company.”
Dana Northey, Accounting Manager, Women’s Health USA
If you are a professional services company that is looking for a new ERP system, contact CAL Business Solutions.