This article outlines 13 tried-and-true steps for success using Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
Originally published in Q3 2017 NAVUG Magazine
Last spring, my friend and fellow Microsoft Dynamics NAV User, Holly, nominated me to give an upgrade presentation at the Microsoft Dynamics NAV FOCUS conference, so I set off for St. Louis in May. It was a great conference. I met countless seasoned Users, new Users, consultants, and technical experts all with one thing in common – we were there to learn. As an IT director, I have more than 20 years of ERP experience, but just a few short years ago, I was new to Microsoft Dynamics NAV and in a situation to learn quickly. It’s no wonder I left St. Louis thinking, “If only I had time to tell the others what I’ve learned.” Along came Holly – she nominated me to write this article so I could do just that, share what I’ve learned. On the flight home from FOCUS, I scratched down the steps I have taken in the last four years to achieve success with Microsoft Dynamics NAV. There’s no scientific study behind these steps – just many years of trial and error, and lessons learned from others.
Be Confident
Your first step to success is to cast out of your head the reservations hanging in the back of your mind. Yes, you! You’re wondering if your Microsoft Dynamics NAV investment is a good decision. It’s understandable – we all have reservations. I inherited the decision to invest in Microsoft Dynamics NAV from my predecessor and initially questioned the decision. In fact, my coworkers sensed my reservations, and progress dissipated. It was time wasted. I eventually learned there are more than 100,000 Customers that have been using Microsoft Dynamics NAV since 1987.
Then I met others successfully using the solution and got familiar with Microsoft’s continued investment plan. When I finally had confidence in the software, my colleagues and leaders did, too. Confidence is a necessary foundation for success. So, if you have reservations, talk to your Microsoft Partner, go to local User group meetings, attend Summit or Focus – do what you need to do to be confident that Microsoft Dynamics NAV is right for your company – and then get on with it.
Know Your Business
It would be wonderful if we could install the software and bing! – like magic, all our business problems are solved. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Throughout my career, I’ve guided my work with the motto “Process first, technology second”. When implementing an ERP system, first you must know your business processes; then you can implement the software to support those processes. If your processes are informal, flawed, or inexistent, you can expect to spend time defining, improving, and gaining consensus on them before you design and implement the software. If you don’t do this step, you will undoubtedly be dissatisfied with the results.
Commit To Serve
Clearly my role in IT is to serve the business, but the service concept applies to every business function, too. Working in an ERP environment forces all business functions to work together for the good of the whole. For example, customer service may not understand why they must enter data they never use, but the data they capture helps manufacturing produce the product on time and helps leaders make critical decisions. When everyone in the company remembers we are all working together – we are all servicing upstream and downstream functions – it all gets so much easier!
Get the Right Partner
Your Microsoft Partner should be a Microsoft Dynamics NAV expert. They should have the project skills to implement the software efficiently and effectively, the interpersonal skills to train a wide range of Users, the technical skills to resolve rare errors, the strategic insight to help you plan, the business savvy that will prevent you from investing in a customization that isn’t in your best interest, and a sense of urgency when you need that really important report developed now! Your Partner should also support your goals. Whether your goal is to reduce your Microsoft Dynamics NAV support costs, increase sales, reduce inventory, or make your company more efficient, your goals should be their goals. If your Partner falls short of your needs, consider alternatives. Trust me – there are really good Partners out there!
Develop a Long-Term Plan
Benjamin Franklin said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” I choose to plan! Your long-term plan doesn’t have to be overly complex – just a simple description of your Microsoft Dynamics NAV goal. It should be something that you and your colleagues can agree on, is realistic to achieve, and points your day-to-day efforts in the right direction. My long-term plan is, “One efficient Microsoft Dynamics NAV application and database for the whole company”. My high-level steps to achieve this are: 1) Stabilize support, 2) Upgrade, 3) Extend to additional business functions, 4) Implement U.S. subsidiaries, and 5) Implement Canadian subsidiaries. As day-to day challenges arise, I can ask myself, “What solution will move me closer to the goal?”.
Deliver Small Wins
Small wins make you and your business partners feel like you are accomplishing something on your path to your long-term goals. They also give your coworkers and company leaders reason to support you. For example, while I was finding and preventing re-occurring errors (i.e. stabilizing support), I found a way to make work easier for the customer service team and purchasing group. We worked together to change the sales and purchasing documents so that they could be sent via email. This reduced one person’s task from 12 hours per week to three hours per week. It was a small win along the way to being “efficient” and helped others believe we would be successful in the big Microsoft Dynamics NAV efforts.
Gain Executive Buy-In
Every company leader has a lot on their mind. Most days, my CEO is thinking about safety, product quality, productivity, energy management, health care, and regulations. Rarely does software make the list. I could quietly sit in my office performing great programming and support feats – but that wouldn’t get me very far. As a Microsoft Dynamics NAV leader, I must make myself relevant to leadership by bringing forth ideas and tools that help leaders obtain their goals. For me, creating “One efficient Microsoft Dynamics NAV application and database for the whole company” helps my CEO measure safety, quality, and productivity more efficiently. Delivering reports from Microsoft Dynamics NAV to help him with his goals gained his buy-in, and that buy-in was necessary for everything from financial support to change management.
Build Your Team
When using an ERP system, most (if not all) of your company’s business functions live together in the same database. Making a change in one area often affects another area. Some changes – a new dimension, for example – can affect all functional areas. For this reason, it is important to have a cross-functional team assembled to guide the direction of the software. I formed my company’s Microsoft Dynamics NAV team after I had stabilized support and prepared to upgrade. The team consists of a representative from each business function using the software. During the upgrade, the team met once or twice a month to coordinate tasks, air concerns, and make decisions. After the upgrade, the team continued to meet once a quarter to ensure support, projects, and that the overall Microsoft Dynamics NAV plans stayed aligned to business needs.
Leverage NAVUG
Learning is essential, and NAVUG makes learning easy with multiple ways to access knowledge and gain information. Summit and Focus are two types
of conferences where you can learn from other Users, Microsoft Partners, and Microsoft while getting away from your day-to-day routine. If traveling to conferences doesn’t work, you can attend webinars from your office. For those who learn best by reading, there are presentations, documents, and blogs on the NAVUG website (and of course, this magazine, too). If you prefer social networking, the NAVUG website has a Q&A Forum. For me, the most impactful thing is local chapter meetings. These meetings have allowed me to get to know other Users, leaders, and consultants in my area – I’ve learned a lot from the formal presentations as well as the casual conversations. The thing is, there is a wealth of knowledge and learning opportunities at your fingertips with NAVUG, and when we learn, our work can be more efficient and have a greater impact.
Withstand Naysayers
Even if your long-term plan is stellar, and you have accumulated many small wins, there will be naysayers. From my experience, one third of ERP Users typically support plans, one third is indifferent, and one third question and even resist the plans (it’s their nature). As a Microsoft Dynamics NAV leader, your challenge is to maintain the confidence of the supporters, continuously persuade the middle group to come along, and most importantly, minimize the effects of the naysayers. One of my naysayers liked to needle me by saying, “things would be much better if your predecessor were here”. I let results speak to this type of naysayer.
Deliver Step-Change Projects
Every business wants the benefits of step-change projects like upgrades, business intelligence, re-implementations, dashboards, and subsidiary implementations. These are the projects every Microsoft Dynamics NAV leader must do to deliver value, so go for it! At the same time, beware – not everyone is prepared to go through the process of change. Step-change projects involve significant process and technology shifts that require Users to change their habits, give up control, or take on new responsibilities – and let’s face it – no one likes these changes. Large projects also involve risks of going over budget, missing schedules, and dealing with unexpected technical difficulties. The best way to withstand these challenges is with the support of others. With the building blocks in place (an established long-term plan, executive buy-in, a series of small wins, and an established team), you are likely to have the support you need. Without them, it will be tough for coworkers and leaders to support you.
Stay Flexible
As you continue down the path of your long-term plan, stay flexible. The economy, competition, leadership direction, regulations, customers – any number of factors – may change, requiring you and your plan to change. For instance, after I established my long-term plan, my company launched an initiative to improve inventory levels, and they wanted to use Microsoft Dynamics NAV to do it. This required me to re plan projects, training our Users on other areas of Microsoft Dynamics NAV first, and then re-ordering points before we launched the upgrade project. Similarly, during the upgrade project, my company acquired two businesses. I’m certain leaders wanted me to implement these new warehouses and a subsidiary quickly, but this time I stayed the course and finished the upgrade, then fit new implementations into the plans.
Tackle the Tough Stuff
There are always those “should do” efforts that we put off. Maybe it’s the Microsoft Dynamics NAV back-up and recovery test or cleaning up the sales territory table. Personally, I keep putting off the effort to improve reporting – our current reporting solutions work, but we have many technologies, and we are interested in more. If I don’t do something soon (i.e., eliminate the old technologies), it will be difficult to take on the new. Some people find these “should do” efforts very easy, for they are projects that Microsoft Dynamics NAV leaders can accomplish without coordinating anything with Users and without the eagle eye of leadership. I, on the other hand, find them hard to accomplish, because they steal time from projects that have greater benefits to leaders and colleagues. Whatever your tough stuff projects are, work time into your schedule to tackle them – before they tackle you!
Upon review of this article, my coworker said, “Thirteen? Couldn’t it be 12 or 14 steps? Thirteen is unlucky.” My response? “I don’t think the number of steps is wrong; it’s your interpretation of the number 13. It’s not unlucky; it’s promising!”
Here’s to your promising success – cheers!