“We'd been using Sage 50 successfully for many years, but we noticed we were spending more and more time maintaining it”
Step 2
The process of choosing a solution
Having identified that a new solution was required, they decided to undertake an internal departmental review of requirements and business issues which would need addressing by a new solution.
Having undertaken the review and collated the information they then drew up a shortlist of software applications to review.
Some of the applications seemed to offer similar functionality that was similiar to what was on offer in Sage 50, and although they were well advertised products they were quickly discounted.
Italica then proceeded to a selection process which involved various software partners showcasing their software based on their requirements.
“The thought of upgrading to a larger solution was quite daunting but Andy and the team made the process fairly painless”
Step 3
The Project kick off meeting
The Project kick off meeting is where the project truly starts and is often an action packed day, with a great deal of positivity. This is where Italica truly started to feel confident they had made the right choice, both in their chosen supplier and team, as well as software.
Besides a meet and greet where the sales hands over takes place it also introduces the project managers and consultants who will be delivering the project.
Using Prince2 methodology and other best practices, requirements and current business issues are gathered, KPI's and other success criteria are identified, risks are noted with potential mitigation options as well as many other elements. Copious notes are taken in order to create the project documentation and scope.
Step 4
Project documentation and scope
Following the kick off meeting the information gathered is used to create the project documentation.
This document although flexible is the guide and plan to which the project will flow. Once Italica agreed the document, including its scope, issues and plan to address, KPI's and other elements they knew what a successful project would look like as well as what dates they needed to add to their diaries.
The project documentation, including the people and time requirements for Italica helped them plan ahead to ensure they met their target go-live date
“Cleaning our data was a bit of a pain but a huge benefit to our business!”
Step 6
Data extraction, cleansing and manipulation
Business data is the life blood of any business, without it a business cannot function properly. It is the information that not only allows a business to see how it is performing but supports all business processes from sales, to customer service and purchasing. However, business data can quickly get out of hand and become unwieldy as it is collected over the years.
This part of the project process allows a business to cleanse and update their existing data. Although this process can be time consuming it is a fantastic opportunity for a business to build a strong data platform for moving forwards. The exisitng Italica Sage 50 data was extracted for cleansing and transformed for use in Sage 200. This transformation takes 2 parts, to add in the revised codes and structures and to add in extra data that Sage 200 can hold that Sage 50 does not cater for.
As a result this part of the process enabled Italica to not only utilise clean business data but to have extra reporting and data analysis options.
“Using our data for training made a lot of sense, it helped us see we had made the right decisions on software, partner and the way the software was being configured”
Step 7
The training plan and user training
As the project moved on and requirements were gathered, options set within the software data was imported into the software, Italica were ready to move to the training phase of the project.
By using a tried and tested training mtholdolgy, Italica knew exactly who was to be trained and when (based on the training plan within the project plan) and in what areas.
Onesys training is aimed at multiple levels from pure functional training to train the trainer to ensure solution adoption.
Furthermore, we always train the customer on their business data (see the data and extraction step) as this ensure the solution makes sense and decisions on data and software options can be tested as part of the training. By taking this approach Italica gained the benefit of ensuring they boith know and trust the software but also that options are set correctly based on business requirements.
Step 8
User acceptance testing (UAT)
UAT is started as part of the training process but stretches further to ensure that the software is configured to match as close as possible exact requirements.
Following training and as the Sage 200 software is typically available to everyone as we move to the go-live phase, detailed UAT can takes place.
Italica used this part of the process to ensure that the software was configured to their requirements and that the processes were efficient. By documenting and improving on any findings we were able to fine tune the solution so that it delivers optimal efficiency.
The UAT process involves customer testing, documentaiton, re-working where appropriate and customer sign-off. Effectively once Italica were happy the solution was good to launch!
“Having Andy and the team on-site for go-live made all the difference, our confidence grew from that day”
Step 9
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Go-live day with on-site support
After UAT and training followed further refinements the solution moves to the go-live phase.
This was an unnerving and wary time for Italica as they were about to deploy a new solution which would have a big impact on their business (good or bad!). However, the Onesys team were well versed in this process having overseen many previous successful go-lives.
By using our tried and tested process, the latest business data was extracted, transformed and imported into a new Sage 200 company. As this was effectively the second extraction this part of the process can be performed quickly to minimise business downtime.
On go-live day, 2 consultants were on-site to ensure things went smoothly as the Italica team started to use Sage 200 in a live scenario. By being on-site the consultants ensured all users were happy with the new ways of working (from training and UAT) and as a result confidence in the software was instilled from the start.
Italica were now on Sage 200.
Step 10
On-going support and account management
As Italica's confidence with the software grew, they became more and more adept at using the software and as always started to think of new ways they could get more from the software (typically as more data is available to analyse more reporting becomes available).
Italica utilise the support team, their existing project manager and their account manager who visits them on a regular basis to identify new requirements, improve the software even further and discuss future growth.
They now never want to give Sage 200 up!