In a recent post next-generation ERP: the right mix, I featured an article
from PRIME magazine that looked at how Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 was primed and
ready to address the needs of chemical manufacturing organizations. Time to
switch industries this week and turn our attention to the Public Sector industry
and PRIME’s sister publication TOUCH magazine. In this autumn’s edition of TOUCH
I co-wrote an article together with Editor-in-Chief, Rebecca Lambert and our UK
PMM for Microsoft Dynamics AX, Fiona Nolan about the adoption of Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 by leading public sector partners and SI’s and some of the
opportunities we are seeing in the UK market in particular.
In the last issue of Touch, prior to the launch of Dynamics AX 2012,
Charlie Johnson, global industry product director, public sector, Microsoft
Dynamics, explained some of the key benefits of the solution for the public
sector in particular. Having stated that it’s no secret that government and
public sector organisations worldwide are facing significant cost pressures as a
result of reduced public funding and revenue shortfalls, he described the latest
iteration of Dynamics AX as a breakthrough solution for the industry, citing its
ability to offer comprehensive ERP functionality and tackle unique public sector
pain points in a cost-effective manner as key differentiators. “Public sector
organisations have long experienced inflexible, legacy ERP systems, hindering
their ability to support open government, compliance requirements and fiscal
accountability,” says Johnson. “Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 has been built from
the ground up to offer rich functionality specifically designed for public
sector organisations.” Microsoft’s vision for public sector organisations is one
where workers can easily and securely access specific information and tools from
a single source in order to perform their individual roles as effectively as
possible. In line with this, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 has been designed
specifically to help users manage finances, procurement, human resources,
citizen relationships, funds and grants, and service delivery from a single ERP
system, allowing governments to take a unified approach to managing their IT and
processes. For example, funding for multi-year grants and projects is managed
more easily with configurable budgetary controls that proactively track
revenues, expenditures and personnel resources against defined budget
objectives.
The solution also helps provide organization wide accountability and
increased citizen satisfaction, and helps address accounting requirements issued
by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and International Public Sector
Accounting Standards. Because the flexible architecture of Dynamics AX 2012
includes built-in capabilities for multiple industries and supports a wide range
of geographic regions, it lets people make quick and easy changes to processes
to fulfil the shifting needs of their business, no matter how complex the
organisation. In the UK, where public sector cuts have become the mainstay of
political rhetoric, local councils are evaluating the benefits of joint ventures
and mergers to reduce costs while continuing to improve citizen services, and it
is in situations like this that Dynamics AX 2012 comes into its own. For
example, South Holland District Council and East Lindsey District Council in
Lincolnshire have recently set up a joint services company, Compass Point
Business Services, to manage shared customer services, revenues and benefits,
IT, human resources and finance across the region. As part of the new set up,
the two councils worked with Hitachi Consulting UK to deliver a modern and agile
IT infrastructure using Microsoft solutions, including Dynamics AX 2012,
Dynamics CRM, SharePoint 2010 and BizTalk Server, that could accommodate all
their needs. Explaining why Compass Point chose to implement the Microsoft
technology stack, Steve French, vice president, Enterprise Applications at
Hitachi Consulting UK, says: “Having taken a visionary approach to delivering
services in a cost-effective, efficient manner, Compass Point needed a
technology solution that could offer real flexibility and scalability. Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 is a truly revolutionary product. It delivers rich
functionality that meets the specific needs of the public sector, while offering
significantly reduced total cost of ownership.”
For the UK market in particular, Dynamics AX 2012′s prebuilt capabilities for
the public sector are a key differentiator from other ERP solutions. But, as
Fiona Nolan, product manager, Microsoft Dynamics AX UK, explains, it is
Microsoft’s ties with local partners to help extend the solution’s functionality
even further that makes Dynamics AX 2012 a stand out product. “We work very
closely with our partners – they are our route to market and are a crucial
element to the success of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012,” she says. “We involved
key public sector customers and partners, to gather information about the way in
which they operate to ensure we are addressing the needs of the sector. Our sole
purpose is to ensure partners are up-to-speed with the solution prior to its
release to market, but are equally given their respective domain expertise. They
are an extension of our eyes and ears on the market. We are working closely with
a number of partners within this sector, to ensure their success in the market,
coupled with ensuring they are bringing relevant business solutions to market.”
Of course, each region within EMEA comes with its own unique set of challenges
and issues and the UK public sector is no different. “The public sector at
present currently faces two main challenges,” says Guy Hodges, director of IT
lifecycle services provider for private and public sector organisations, 2e2.
“One particular challenge focuses on operational efficiency while another
involves improving the service that organisations deliver to the citizen. The
challenge is ensuring the balance between cost and service. When we look at
service, the government has something called ‘digital by default’ – the more
services that councils make available online through the multitude of devices we
have, the better the service citizens will receive.” Matthew Payne, associate
partner at KPMG, adds: “The single key challenge is to continue to provide
services at a lower cost, and this is something that is not going to get any
easier as time goes on. The sector has done what it can so far with cost
efficiencies but they need to be transformational and to meet long-term
targets.
“By involving partners such as 2e2 and KPMG, as well as others including
Tribal and Hitachi Consulting, early on in the development process and engaging
them in the Dynamics AX 2012 Technology Adoption Programme (TAP), Microsoft has
been able to take advantage of their expertise not just on an industry level but
also on a geographical level. Nolan says: “A number of our key public sector
partners such as Tribal, Hitachi Consulting and 2e2 have all been engaged from
an early point on Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, long before the product was
released. You only have to look at the Compass Point solution implemented by
Hitachi Consulting to see the potential that an AX 2012 implementation could
give while coupled with other technologies like Microsoft Dynamics CRM,
SharePoint and BizTalk.” KPMG and 2e2, meanwhile, have embraced Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 as the core foundation of their offering to customers,
complemented with their own industry-specific functionality. Hodges says: “2e2
and KPMG have partnered to bring AX 2012 to the public sector via the cloud. 2e2
brings deep technical understanding while KPMG provides its wide-ranging
accounting skills expertise. Following implementation and configuration, this
solution will be available on a subscription basis and will be offered through
our own data centres in the UK. The offering provides companies with data
protection, security and governance.” Explaining the premise behind the
partnership, KPMG’s Payne explains: “We have a long heritage in financial
management; we are an auditor of many public sector bodies while also having a
background in accountancy. Dynamics AX 2012 provides a large amount of public
sector capabilities that we then extend to meet the specific needs of some
organisations. We’re adding that value to bring an understanding of the public
sector in the way that positions AX 2012 as a key part of a broader offering.
Our partnership with Microsoft and 2e2 is proving to be extremely powerful.”
Partner expertise in the industry is an important part of Microsoft’s
go-to-market strategy, and that, combined with the key enhancements in the
latest version of Dynamics AX, is enabling Microsoft to deliver its most
functionally rich, vertical-specific solution to the public sector.
Nolan explains that usability is a key enhancement to the solution: “This is
the first solution to the market in the public sector that fundamentally
addresses usability. You can have the most functionally rich ERP solution on the
planet but if users aren’t adopting the solution, despite the richness of
functionality, the implementation will attract a much higher level of time and
cost, and will typically be seen as a failure. This is certainly something we’ve
seen with other ERP solutions in the market. Given that we address the
fundamental issue of usability at the core, with elements of Windows 7 and
Office 2010 built into the framework of AX 2012, we end up with a much more
usable solution, enabling faster uptake and happier employees. “If you combine
this with a solution that is quicker to implement and built to work with other
Microsoft solutions already purchased by our public sector customers, we believe
that we are bringing a more cost-effective and flexible solution to market than
those previously seen in the UK public sector market,” adds Nolan. “AX 2012 will
help increase user productivity, while also helping organisations to reduce
software total cost of ownership within the organisation.” As enterprises
recognise the limitations of legacy ERP solutions to enable their dynamic
businesses, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 serves as a highly scalable, yet
cost-effective, solution for their operations, subsidiaries or divisions to
maintain a competitive edge, while retaining their legacy investment to cover
administrative ERP needs at the corporate level. At the same time, large and
mid-size companies are looking to Microsoft as a safe haven from current ERP
vendors that may not offer clear product road maps or commitment to long-term
innovation.
One such customer is the City of Redmond in the US, which chose to replace
its JD Edwards system because it couldn’t support the city’s operations, was
hard to use and caused concerns about continued support. The City of Redmond
implemented Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, significantly improving operations, user
satisfaction and efficiency. City employees are now provided with transparent,
relevant and rich information so that they can provide innovative services to
their citizens. Payne is keen to highlight the benefits Dynamics AX can bring to
organisations in the UK. He says: “I think Dynamics AX 2012 will significantly
benefit organisations from a cost perspective. It is definitely one of the most
exciting product launches in the business space that we’ve seen for a number of
years. For partners, Microsoft has hit the mark by providing a complete system
that can compete with the traditional ERP vendors in this space.” Hodges adds:
“Some of the large monolithic ERP solutions that currently exist are incredibly
expensive and almost impossible to change quickly. They are also significantly
limited by lack of integration. Now, many CFOs and business users are taking
note of what Dynamics AX can do to improve their day-today operations. Training
staff on Microsoft technology is easier too, as most people have knowledge of
the Microsoft productivity suite. Dynamics AX 2012 is a great fit for the next
generation of workers coming into the sector. This is the most exciting
opportunity for Microsoft and its partners in a long time.”
Luke Shave 18 Oct 2011
https://community.dynamics.com
