BTI set itself the challenge of finding a solution that would deliver real out-of-the-box BI reporting, with a traditional finance perspective, for Dynamics AX.
Founded in 2000, BTI is a global company with HQ in North America and regional sales, marketing and R&D centers of excellence throughout the world. The company delivers networking solutions that address key business trends including Mobile Backhaul, Carrier Ethernet Business Services, Data Center and Cloud Connectivity, Metro Packet Optical Networking and Internet CMS applications.
Faced with only limited reporting capability from the incumbent Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP system, BTI set itself the challenge of finding a solution that would deliver real out-of-the-box BI reporting with a traditional finance perspective.
Martin Pitson, BTI's Vice President of IT and CIO, explained the background to the decision to implement PrecisionPoint in 2012: "We initially looked at the software in 2010, but the only option at that time was to acquire the software with a traditional licensing model. We didn't choose to go with them because of our limited internal resources to implement a project of that scale. When a managed on-premise model was introduced, we were excited to be able to implement the solution cost effectively, and within days of signing the contract."
"From my perspective, the change to the managed model was the key to us selecting the PrecisionPoint solution," Martin says.
Martin is full of praise for the software and the support team. He commented: "The software was deployed without difficulty, it is very easy to learn and very cost-effective. When talking to PrecisionPoint, you know you are talking to experts that have an in-depth understanding of their specialist subject."
"Given the nature of our business, things change rapidly and our BI tool has to adapt continually," Martin continued. "We like the fact that we can write our own reports or we can outsource to PrecisionPoint, if we prefer. We design the reports and they build them. They are very responsive and cost effective and their input has accelerated our ability to deploy financial BI reporting."
"Within 3 months of deployment, PrecisionPoint delivers 80% of the financial reports produced by BTI. Previously, we ran a mix of ERP reporting and Excel spreadsheets; which were always prone to error. The reports are fully integrated, trustworthy and accurate. Because they are now automated, it has freed up the finance team to make business decisions rather than spending time producing the reports. The introduction of PrecisionPoint has allowed our Finance team to move up the value chain."
The finance team is able to do a lot more in a lot less time. "The IT team used to be stretched to handle requests for one-off reports as their time was consumed producing month-end, quarter-end and year-end reports. PrecisionPoint allows us to now meet those requests almost on demand," Martin says.
The finance and leadership teams can now see live data presented on a management dashboard every minute of every day. Martin sees this as a huge advantage for BTI.
One of the most valuable reporting templates is the 'budget vs. actual' and because it is available at departmental level, employees and budget owners can see the approved budget and how they are actually performing on a daily basis. This allows the company to much more effectively manage the business.
Martin ended by saying: "We are very happy with our decision to implement PrecisionPoint. It delivers a more dynamic data experience and makes it possible to slice and dice data, quickly and easily. The on-demand model is ideal for immediately accessing software, and it is very scalable."
“ When talking to the PrecisionPoint team, you know you are talking to experts."
Martin Pitson, Vice President of IT and CIO
June 17, 2015
