Business management software - quick, smart

Business realities dictate that young, fast growing companies must use management systems and processes similar to their more mature counterparts in order to compete on a level playing field. The trouble is, younger companies are often too busy growing to have the time or resources to adopt the enterprise systems and practices necessary to compete with established companies. Fortunately for high growth technology company, Datasquirt, the solution was provided in SAP Business One, complete with a rapid implementation approach that made the upgrade so simple the business didn't miss a beat.

Problem: Big business aspirations hindered by small business technology
Datasquirt's flagship product, CONTACT^TM, helps contact centers communicate more effectively with customers, using non-voice communication channels to increase efficiencies and reduce operating cost. Enabling contact centers to add SMS text messaging, email and fax to existing voice channels, CONTACT can automate routine responses and offers the customer a wider range of ways to interact with the business.

What started out in 2001 as a seed of an idea has rapidly grown into a thriving business with offices in five countries, a growing international network of resellers and customers across the globe. 2007 saw Datasquirt continue on its path of success, listing on the Australian Stock Exchange.

However, despite the company's stellar growth, Datasquirt's chief financial officer Karen Hormann labored to support the business with an ill-equipped small business accounting system and the poor visibility it provided. "The business was bursting at the seams," she says, highlighting absent multi-currency functionality and limited query and report writing capability as critical areas of concern. For Hormann, supporting the next chapter of business growth and internationalization with better financial reporting and integrated business systems was crucial. CRM and job costing were immediate requirements and she wanted these functions in a single integrated system. "Managing the entire global business using a single centralized system was very attractive," Hormann says.

Challenge: Upgrade without blood, sweat or tears
While inbuilt flexibility and customization of features, such as fields and menus, reflecting its own unique workflow were non-negotiable, Datasquirt didn't have the resources or budget for drawn out piloting and implementation.

Says Hormann, "Many of our processes are pretty standard. We were looking for a solution partner that could recommend best practice so we didn't have to create a detailed definition of every business process. When you're a fast growing company you need something quick. An extended scoping process is out of the question," she says. "When we saw SAP Business One's rapid implementation approach we knew it was just what our business needed. We'd grown from a single New Zealand office to having offices in five countries with five sets of payroll and compliance issues and five different tax regimes. For a vendor to offer a system that worked in the markets we operate and to tell us how it should be implemented, using best practice methodologies, was hugely attractive. We didn't have to tie up a project team and were able to focus on running the business," Hormann says.

Solution: SAP Business One, Job Costing and SAP's rapid implementation pre-configuration
SAP gold software solution partner, Enprise, introduced Datasquirt to SAP Business One and its award winning addon Job Costing for SAP Business One - a resource management and project costing module for project and service based businesses. Along with financials and reporting, Datasquirt has implemented CRM to manage sales and business development, and help standardize business processes. "Having a central repository for customer documents was also important for us," says Hormann.

Further, SAP's rapid implementation approach promised a swift and simple implementation. "We didn't want to manage the implementation. Own it and drive it, sure, but not be involved in the detail required to deliver it," says Hormann, underscoring Datasquirt's desire for business continuity. "Anyone can present a blank sheet of paper and say, 'what would you like to do?' But we just didn't have the time or the resources to sit there and do all the work," she says. "What we needed was something quite prescriptive to lead the way, then we could add or take out what suited us."

Payback: Unlimited potential
With a successful IPO under its belt and new international customers in the UK and US, Datasquirt is poised for continued growth. Hormann says SAP Business One is scalable and provides the management framework to institutionalize maturing business processes and manage company information more effectively. Where reporting to the ASX would have been a heavily manual process, it will now be largely automated thanks to multi-currency systems and flexible reporting, including geographic and consolidated snapshots.

"We've got the system scalability and visibility to keep pace with business expansion," says Hormann, highlighting new job costing clarity. "We can identify time spent on specific client and development work and assess charging, profitability and the accuracy of pricing structures. We have the tools to fine tune our operation and follow a continuous improvement path."

Highlights

Customer
Datasquirt: A fast growing international contact center software provider for non-voice communication channels.

Business challenge
A small business accounting system provided inadequate visibility and reporting. Missing functionality, including multi currency and flexible query and report writing, complicated financial reporting. More critically, integrated CRM and job costing systems were missing. Implementation had to be quick and simple - the company didn't have the resources for protracted scoping, piloting and implementation.

Solution
SAP Business One, Job Costing for SAP Business One and SAP's rapid implementation pre-configuration.

Payback

• Inbuilt query and reporting flexibility satisfying stock exchange reporting and accounting standards in different geographies
• A scalable system supporting international business growth
• Job costs and component contribution related to customer servicing and developing time-based solutions are clearly visible
• Improved accounting robustness and audit ability
• A system that brings structure to customer lifecycle information - from development to job completion
• Faster, cheaper, best practice based implementation