JMT gains unified platform for growth with HSO ProServ and the Microsoft Cloud

For years, JMT had run their business on a series of standalone business applications. This included Microsoft Dynamics SL as their accounting platform, Unanet for time entry, Deltek Vision for CRM, and several specialized applications for human resource management.

Because most systems were not integrated, employees were spending significant time in manual data entry, and many processes were paper-based. In addition, employees spent a lot of time asking staff in other departments to send them information that they did not have access to. “When a new business opportunity presented itself, the marketing team would ask the operational people ‘what was that project we worked on that was like this?’ and ‘who worked on it?’’,” explained Bill Smith, Sr. Vice President and CIO for JMT. “And then someone in operations had to stop what they were doing and gather all of that information and send it over.”

Furthermore, remote access to on-premise systems was challenging making it difficult for employees to access information from job sites when they were away from the office. And JMT’s IT staff was also challenged having to support so many disparate systems across disparate technologies.

In addition, the aggressive growth goals that the management had set made the need for a new platform an even greater strategic imperative. JMT had set a goal to grow its business every few years and become a Top 50 ENR firm by 2020. To achieve these goals, JMT recognized that it needed more modern, enterprise-level technologies.

JMT set out on an exhaustive evaluation of new business applications looking at options from Microsoft, Oracle, BST, and Deltek. “Even though some within the firm considered it to be risky not to adopt one of the niche AEC industry systems that many firms use, we decided that the Microsoft platform was the best solution for us, especially when we look at the long-term,” described Smith. “With the Microsoft cloud, we can achieve our vision of a unified infrastructure with a common data model that delivers consistency in workflows and user experience.”

Having begun its IT overhaul by migrating its on-premise Microsoft Office tools to Office 365 in the cloud, JMT then set out to design an end-to-end, enterprise-wide business platform based on Microsoft Dynamics 365.

JMT selected aec360, an industry-specific version of Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 for Sales CRM platform. aec360 not only offers all the native CRM features required by AEC firms to manage their clients, prospective clients, and pursuits, but also provides a centralized database of project and employee experience and qualifications, which is essential to the marketing process.

aec360 also provides unique relationship intelligence capabilities that can help firms connect the dots in terms of employees responsible for the accounts, who they are communicating with, who is best positioned to lead a pursuit, and other features critical to selling in a relationship-centric industry like E/A.

JMT also selected Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations ERP platform to manage their core financial management, project management and accounting, and operational business processes. This was complemented with Projects+ for Microsoft Dynamics 365, which provides enhanced features and a pre-built BI and reporting solution for E/A firms.

A critical element of JMT’s strategy was the ability for data and processes to flow seamlessly across not only these business applications but their Office 365 productivity and collaboration tools as well. For example, JMT implemented a process whereby a pursuit that had been ‘won’ in the CRM system automatically created a project record in the ERP system to be used for project execution and accounting, as well as a collaboration site in SharePoint Online for sharing documents and other project information. This automation happens in real-time making the information available to the entire firm immediately.

JMT viewed the selection of a Microsoft Dynamics 365 consulting partner as a critical part of their initiative. After engaging with several Microsoft partners, JMT chose to work with HSO ProServ, Microsoft’s leading Microsoft Dynamics 365 solution provider in the AEC industry. HSO ProServ provides a complete suite of industry-specific Microsoft Dynamics 365 business applications and consulting services to help its clients successfully implement and adapt their Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform. “We chose HSO ProServ as our implementation partner based on their experience in the AEC industry and their ability to understand even our most complex business requirements”, stated Smith.