The Value of a Responsive, Full-Service Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner
“It’s really been priceless.”
~Darren Ranaldo, IT Department, Keymark Corporation
Keymark Corporation
United States
Manufacturing
Customer Profile
Keymark Corporation has been using Microsoft Dynamics GP for years. They like Microsoft Dynamics GP because of the reporting package that comes with it.
Business Situation
They were looking to upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013
Solution
As upgrade time approached, they sought a larger and more suitable partner company and they selected Microsoft Gold Certified partner MIG & Co.
Business Needs
Keymark Corporation is a premier full-service aluminum extrusion company, featuring in-house finishing capabilities such as anodizing, casting, extruding, painting, thermal barrier, custom packaging, and more. They manufacture custom and stock extrusions/profiles for many industries, including automotive, building and construction, consumer durables, distribution, electrical, machinery and equipment, and transportation. They have been in business for more than 50 years.
Last year, Keymark decided that they wanted to upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013, but it was crucial that there be no downtime during the upgrade process. Their previous partner was a single individual who was difficult to get hold of and hard pressed to deliver services in a timely manner. Keymark needed a partner who could deliver an upgrade with no down time, and who could also provide quick, responsive support services.
Right Solution, Right Partner
Keymark Corporation has been using Microsoft Dynamics GP for years, going as far back as when it was known as Great Plains, before Microsoft purchased the software solution. They like Microsoft Dynamics GP because of the reporting package that comes with it.
Their previous Microsoft Dynamics GP partner was a single individual, meaning that Keymark had little access to him, and he was difficult to get hold of. As upgrade time approached, they sought a larger partner company, and they selected Microsoft Gold Certified partner MIG & Co.
Darren Ranaldo, Keymark’s Manager of Application Administration and Reporting, says that his predecessor in the role “had done a lot of research, and after a pretty robust investigation, she had decided on MIG based on the overall value of what they bring to the table.” He adds that “it was pretty easy for us to make that jump to MIG.”
MIG specializes in business management solutions, systems integration, and business process automation. For over 15 years, MIG has been installing and providing training and support services for Microsoft Dynamics GP, and they have completed more than 250 upgrades in the last 5 years alone.
How the Upgrade Went
Ranaldo reports that MIG “gets involved on a granular level. MIG actually came in and helped us with the servers and the implementation and the settings and things like that. That was really great for us.”
As far as the upgrade process goes, Ranaldo says that it “went very smoothly. We haven’t had any major roadbumps or hiccups or anything along the way.”
MIG Support Services
Keymark has also been enjoying the quick responsiveness of MIG’s awardwinning support services, which Ranaldo describes as “excellent.”
“We’ve only had to reach out a handful of times, maybe 5 times in the last year since the expert we had here in-house left, and they were quickly able to resolve our problems. Really quick to get back to us.”
MIG also offers support at a fixed rate, and the MIG support desk can manage all aspects of the support lifecycle. All support interactions with client end users, as well as knowledge and support case notes, are tracked and archived for future referral.
Benefits of the Right Partner
It’s much too early to put a hard number on Keynote’s return on investment, but Ranaldo says that “It’s really been priceless.”
“We were in a pretty big pinch here recently where we rolled out a new implementation of our ERP system… considering all the deadlines we had to meet.”
Smooth implementations and upgrades of Microsoft Dynamics GP are MIG’s calling card. In addition, MIG provides not just implementation, but also training and support so that their clients can get the most out of their technology investment.
Microsoft Dynamics GP is a powerful business management solution that delivers a vast toolbox to help users do more and to do it more quickly, but the better users understand all of the functionality and capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics GP, the greater the return on an organization’s technology investment will be
Benefits of Support
Contracting support services can save an organization money, as it is significantly less expensive to purchase a service plan than it is to hire an internal business system administrator. The cost of such a position could be $50,000 to $125,000 depending on the situation, whereas the cost of MIG managed support services is between $3,000 to $15,000.
Furthermore, IT positions are prone to a high turnover rate, as IT personnel tend to actively seek new job opportunities, and the movement of personnel is very frequent in the IT industry. So a contracted support plan also leads to peace of mind.
Do more with Microsoft Dynamics & MIG
MIG & Co. specializes in implementing and supporting industry leading financial and business software that offer the lowest total cost of ownership.
Since 1998, our company’s passion is to empower organizations to automate business processes and maximize productivity.
