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A Better Way
Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn’t mean it can’t be done another way. A better way. Particularly if the first way has been knocked to the turf with a one-star rating and a 67% decline in license revenue in the last quarter alone.
Times are high right now and getting higher for Ontario engineers. Finally seeing some of the government funding earmarked for infrastructure trickling into their coffers from the last economic recession, these professionals are presiding over a scene that features more projects, more project management, more accountability for funds.
Alas and alack, though, the ERP systems extant at those places set to benefit from this windfall are largely ill equipped for same. More often than not, the Engineering firm software is out of date, and beset by disparity and an absence of integration with project-management disciplines.
This increase in business is going to require those in its fortunate receipt to have systems that can manage projects profitably. Full stop.
Choosing the Right System
In the past, the product of choice for engineers was Deltek Advantage, Win2. But this option was dealt a body blow recently when the Motley Fool and its CAPS system (drawn from the aggregated market and stock rankings of 140,000 independent investors) downgraded its stock rating to just a single star, and news reports noted that the product had suffered a more than two-thirds hit to its license revenue in the most recent quarter.
That the company is pushing its new product, Vision, in Deltek’s stead, should comfort no one. Vision comes with its own baggage, including, notably, the imperative of seeing through a brand new installation and the absence of an upgrade track.
But hope is far from lost for those engineering firms looking to capitalize on this development. There’s a wealth of choice in the Engineering firm software game today, much more so than in years past. Microsoft Dynamics NAV and 360 WorkBook, to name just two, both provide the integrated project-management functionality and the sound accounting back-ends engineers need today. More than that, they offer the facility for fully integrated time-and-expense tracking at the project level.
Maybe it is time to take a look at the alternatives and stop unquestioningly accepting the status quo.