by Thomas Kinsinger
Director of Technology, E-N Computers
20+ years experience in enterprise IT and managed services.
E-N Computers clients will now have access to expertise in HR, accounting and CRM software to compliment our managed IT services, thanks to a new partnership with the Net at Work MSP Alliance Program.
For the past few years, our president and founder Ian MacRae has been moving us toward a holistic approach to IT management – one that sees IT in the context of overall business needs. And these added services for line-of-business software are just what many of our clients have been looking for.
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What business software do you partner with?
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP):
Sage
Oracle NetSuite
Acumatica
Customer Relationship Management (CRM):
ClickDimensions
Creatio
Microsoft Dynamics
Sage
Salesforce
Human Resource Management (HRM):
Sage HRMS
Rippling
Criterion
eCommerce
erpCommerce
Adobe Commerce
Shopifyplus
Tax compliance: Avalara
Document management: Altec
Integrated Platform as a Service (iPaaS): Boomi
Credit card processing: Fortispay
Where does software consulting fit in?
Technology is often isolated to the “IT department.” Our complementary IT maturity assessment helps organizations see the new reality – how everything from accounting to marketing to your client experience relies on technology. You can learn more about this concept in our popular article What is business/IT strategy alignment?
Traditional “IT” can make sure you have a computer that helps you do your job efficiently. But do you need something more than an Excel document to do your accounting? How do you choose a platform? How do you set it up to work for you?
By joining the Net at Work MSP Alliance Program, we gain access to more than 350 subject matter experts, across more than 26 applications, from publishers such as Sage, Microsoft, Salesforce, NetSuite, Acumatica, Magento (Adobe Commerce) and Shopify, just to name a few. We will also have access to a library of educational content that our clients can use at no cost.
How this partnership helps us and you
In the past you may have gone directly to a software company and talked with a great sales guy who talks you into a great product. Some companies have excellent support. As long as you know exactly what you want to do, they will support you the whole way through that.
But if you aren’t quite sure what you want, their support team may not be sure what you want and may leave you frustrated with your new platform and with things half baked because you didn’t have a clear scope.
We’ve helped many small businesses through this process, but we also struggled because we had to create partnerships with so many different software companies in order to support our MSP clients.
Net at Work brings us a long list of software companies – and the expertise to work with them. Instead of shopping around for months trying to figure out the best platform for your needs, Net at Work can provide you a comparison based on their own familiarity with each platform.
HR is a pretty big challenge these days for a lot of folks. particularly with recruiting and hiring. A lot of our folks are using Sage or NetSuite and could be helped by an experienced consultant.
For example, if you are a small manufacturer, there are at least three different platforms – NetSuite, Acumatica and Sage – that might work for you. Net at Work can make a recommendation based specifically on the kind of manufacturing you do and the size of your business.
Net at Work also only works with MSPs. So we each know how to work with each other to provide that holistic approach to technology that small businesses desparately need.
One way I see this helping our clients immediately is with HR software. HR is a pretty big challenge these days for a lot of folks. particularly with recruiting and hiring. A lot of our folks are using Sage or NetSuite and could be helped by an experienced consultant.
How to receive our software consulting services
Business software consulting will be available as a separate engagement from our managed IT services as a professional service or project. A typical consulting engagement would include paid discovery followed by an implementation or professional services fee.
Since we regularly meet with our MSP clients, we are aware of when they might be thinking about making a change with line-of-business software. We now can provide more comprehensive options and a turnkey solution. With our new partner, you can buy the product, work with us as the IT team to get that product in place and running, and keep all of us walking in the same direction.
Next Steps
How can you know what’s working well with your IT and your business software and processes and where you have room for improvement? Start by taking our IT Maturity Self-Assessment. You’ll walk away with some pointers and, if you want, a free appointment to discuss your results.
Take the IT Maturity Assessment
Is your business ready to weather changes, including employee turnover? Find out by taking our IT maturity assessment.
You’ll get personalized action items that you can use to make improvements right away. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to book a FREE IT strategy session to get even more insights into your IT needs.
