Third-Party Phobia

If you have ever attended Microsoft Convergence (may it rest in peace) and have walked the expo hall, then you are aware of the hundreds, even thousands of add-on products to Microsoft Dynamics. Any industry, any problem – there’s a product for it. However, some people are still against the idea of using third-party products. Why is that? Here are some third-party phobic myths I hear often.

Adding third-party products will make my processes more complicated.

Adding third-party products can add a level of complexity to your system on the back end; however, end users would not notice this. Many third-party products “sit inside” GP and users don’t even know that they are using something other than GP. Other products connect to GP, but the integration is so seamless that the data flows back and forth, so there is no importing and exporting to worry about. Also, a third-party tool will often eliminate manual data entry, making users more efficient and streamlining processes.

For example, PaperSave is an Accounts Payable Automation tool. This tool can automatically capture invoices from an email account, pull them into the system and route them to the appropriate approver. After they are approved, they flow into GP and are routed for payment. This eliminates so much manual entry, running back and forth around an office looking for someone to approve, and you no longer have hundreds of useless, full filing cabinets.

Add-on products are too expensive and don’t add any value.

This is blatantly false. Yes, some third-party tools are on the higher side, price wise. However, the value they add to your business far outweighs the initial or yearly costs of them. For example, if you are part of a mid-size business, you know just how important accurate budgeting and forecasting is. A lot of times budgeting data comes from several different departments and systems. Sales data will come from a CRM system, accounting data would come from GP, and you could have a separate HR system or billing system. Gathering data from all these sources would be a time-consuming nightmare.

Now, implement a data warehouse and budgeting tool. A data warehouse tool could easily gather information from all these systems and dump it into one, easy place to gather what you need and then report from it. This saves time, and we all know that time is money.

There are also some low-cost, third-party products that will vastly improve your processes. Some are just a few hundred dollars and save you hours and manpower.

If my accounting system can’t do it, I just need a new ERP. 

I hear this often, and to be honest, it is very short-sided thinking. ERPs are expensive, time-consuming investments. At KTL, we like to say they are “sticky,” which means you are stuck with this system because it is running your business every day.  Replacing one would be an undertaking and totally unnecessary if there is a third-party product that could easily fit your needs.

If you’ve been considering adding an additional tool to your Dynamic’s system, take a serious look at your processes and talk to your VAR.  At KTL Solutions, we will help you decide if that third-party product will work for you.  For more information about third party products that will help your organization please contact KTL Solutions by phone at 301.360.0001 or by email at sales@ktlsolutions.com.