Smarter ERP implementations with EPM 2010

Johannesburg, 01 Aug 2011

New ERA Solutions (NES) has implemented EPM 2010 for improved financial control over projects, detailed reporting and analytics, budget control down to task level, better resource utilisation and more accurate project planning. EPM 2010 also provides easier time entry for consultants and improved visibility of task information for consultants.

New ERA Solutions specialises in integrated and customisable IT solutions, in partnership with global specialists in enterprise resource planning (ERP), warehouse management systems (WMS), customer relationship management (CRM) and mobility.

NES spokesperson Scott Mckenzie says UMT Consulting SA has a reputation in the industry as the EPM expert. “The Project Server 2010 FUSION product is wonderful, it provides preconfigured templates for EPM 2010.

“We only use the latest technology solutions to ensure ease of implementation and low total cost of ownership of the solution moving forward. We believe our combination of knowledge and smart solutions will allow our clients' businesses to reach new frontiers. And take their performance to new heights,” he says.

Mckenzie points to the following reasons for using UMT Consulting SA:

* Existing knowledge of New ERA's business
* Competence levels of its staff
* Flexible approach to implementing EPM to suit NES's requirements
* A strong relationship with Microsoft
* Easy access to information
* Improved and timely support

New ERA Solutions is familiar with Microsoft's EPM, project and project server capabilities, especially considering that it used to implement EPM systems for customers. It decided on EPM 2010 for the following reasons: improved time and expense controls, early warning system for under- and over-runs on projects, better commercial management of projects, ease of implementation and easy installation and configuration.

UMT Consulting's implementation approach and its competent technical and application consultants were key to the success of this project. EPM was fully implemented in three months; there were some software bugs at first, but UMT resolved issues quickly and there were some network issues that also took time to identify and resolve.

“Our experience with UMT Consulting SA has shown us that they are a professional outfit, the staff are competent, patient and well versed in the product and they liaise with Microsoft on issues and take care of software bugs. Furthermore, their templatised implementation approach made implementation easy, their project management was great and UMT provided far more work than was actually billed for,” he concludes.

UMT Consulting SA

UMT Consulting SA is the largest project, program and portfolio management solutions implementation partner in South Africa and has serviced more than a 100 of the country's leading organisations with its offerings. UMT Consulting SA recently concluded a BEE transaction whereby the Notsi Group owns a 25% shareholding in the ordinary share capital of the company. The company is equipped with sound staff values, capacity to deliver on its promise, practical knowledge and it has a BEE partner that actively participates and contributes to the company's success.

UMT Project and Portfolio Management Services South Africa (UMT Consulting SA) was formed through the merger of Fulcrum Business Solutions, South Africa's leading provider of enterprise project management solutions, and UMT Portfolio Management SA, the leading portfolio management organisation.

Since 1989, both UMT and Fulcrum Business Solutions have pioneered the field of project and portfolio management and devised unique methodologies that, when combined with effective project management, enable an integrated link between strategy formulation and execution. UMT Consulting SA contributes to its clients' success by linking business and IT strategies to execution through day-to-day activities leading to improved performance and tangible projects delivery results.

UMT Consulting SA methodology, training, mentorship and coaching approach assist organisations successfully to deploy practical and essential project, program and portfolio management processes, templates, systems and governance solutions across their multi-disciplinary divisions or departments.

UMT Consulting SA solutions consistently help its clients build capabilities that support effective business decision-making and enhance business delivery performance. Its objective is to assist its clients in ensuring the operational delivery of their strategy through effective project, program and portfolio management.

UMT Consulting SA is a Microsoft Gold Certified partner and a Microsoft Project, SharePoint and Portfolio Server implementation partner.

According to UMT Consulting SA CEO Pieter Meyer, the time has passed to just improve on your delivery processes, but to introduce a new way of collaborating between team members, program and project managers, senior managers and executives. “Organisations need to enable and revive their processes by introducing a responsibility, accountability, consult and inputs (RACI) formal governance framework to their project environments and to use workflow that will manage the governance outputs. Role-based delivery management methods will become very important in any organisation, ensuring return on investments in their project delivery space.”

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