I am toying with marketing. We are close to launching a rapidly deployed, “set menu” style option for adopting NAV, what should I call it? I like NAV in an instant, although it won’t be, more likely three months, assuming there are no delays on the client side. Packaged or boxed feels clichéd but does have the advantage that most people understand what is meant.
So what do I mean? The majority of our implementations to date have taken an approach that allows for the uniqueness of each company, fitting a solution to the business (within reason) rather than fitting the business to the software. You may feel that this is excessively complicated; surely businesses in the same sector have the same processes? Well yes (which is why the packaged approach can work), but there is the last 5% or so where every company seeks their USPs. Dynamics NAV’s USP is that it can flex as required, unlike other packages that are rigidly prescriptive.
Alongside the “Savile Row” approach of tailored solution, we offer an off the peg solution. We like the tailoring metaphor as even off the peg can have adjustments: a hem raised, a button changed and so on. The main difference is that instead of asking you want your requirements are then cutting the cloth, we put you in the suit and nip / tuck as appropriate.
Does this work? Yes, it does. The functionality of Dynamics NAV, particularly for distribution, Wine System and Agency Time, is now so rich it can provide a close fit for those businesses. Certainly closer than the systems we replace. And the ability to further tailor at any point in the future remains true. This latter point is interesting, we see projects where clients hope to get everything in at once (usually whilst they have the momentum!) and we see projects where the client goes live on a system that meets the base requirements (with some added value) then review once the system has bedded in. This post-go live assessment of how the system could be fine tuned is often more effective as the users now make suggestions based on how the new system works not on the system they were used to.
To make this work well, the projects need to be well disciplined to ensure that the scope creep is kept in check (this is the double edged sword of NAV’s USP, the fact that you can make changes means that users start to demand and expect their every whim to be met). Perhaps then I could call it “Strictly NAV”?
Marketing launch date is set for the autumn; if you would like a packaged approach to your NAV implementation before then, please let us know. As with all of these things, I am simply trying to make fancy something we’ve been doing for years!
