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Successful Software Implementation
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While Scaling New Heights is still 9-10 weeks away, we thought we’d help you get a head start on your planning for the event by featuring articles, interviews and content from some of the speakers who you can/will learn who will be leading the 170+ sessions during the event.
Today we’ll be speaking with Jeff Edmonds from Acctivate, a provider of inventory management software that integrates with QuickBooks.
IA: Tell us what ACCTivate is. Is it a product or a company? What market segment do you serve?
JE: ACCTivate is inventory management software that integrates with QuickBooks. Our parent company is Alterity, although we are known in the industry simply as ACCTivate. Our CEO has been developing this type of software long before ACCTivate was created in the late 90’s.
ACCTivate is primarily created for the wholesale/distribution and light manufacturing market. Our sweet spot are companies between $2-20 mm, although we have some smaller and some much, much larger companies using ACCTivate.
To serve this market, we have partnerships with QuickBooks ProAdvisors around the country and in Canada. We continue to build partnerships so we can reach more and more companies whose inventory management needs are outgrowing their QuickBooks capabilities.
IA: Attendees have a lot of options when it comes to training at Scaling New Heights. What will you be teaching and why should they choose your sessions?
JE Our track is called “Successful Software Implementations from A – Z.” The material is not specific to ACCTivate, so it can be used by anyone doing software implementations. It is a 3 class track that will be offered on Sunday, June 15th. This track will cover the critical steps of a software implementation from the consultant’s point of view; from someone knocking on your door with a problem to the successful “go live” of the solution. Each class will cover a segment of that process and at the end of the day, an attendee will walk away with tools to create an implementation game plan for their clients.
Our session will be valuable to any consultant that is doing software implementations or any consultant that would like to start doing software implementations. Since the training material will not be software specific, the techniques can apply to virtually any software solution. We will be presenting real life concepts that experienced ProAdvisors are currently using and giving that information out during the sessions. It will be a great resource to have in your toolbox for years to come.
IA: I know that you will not be “selling” during the session, but will participants learn the advantages and benefits of being an Acctivate Partner during this session?
JE: While we will not be presenting the material from an ACCTivate point of view specifically, we will be giving a short overview of our partner program. We want the audience to know that we have expertise in this area which is one reason we have a strong partner program. If anyone would like to know more or sign up for our partner program, they can contact me or come by the booth.
IA: What would be the ideal profile for someone attending your session? How many clients would they have? What type of clients would they have (manufacturing, distribution, retail)? Would they need to already have clients with a need that Acctivate can solve?
JE: This track of classes is for those QB ProAdvisors that help clients choose software as well as setup, configure and train on software solutions. Regardless of industry, number of clients or software supported, if someone would like to increase their skill set on implementing software, then this class is a good fit. Since we will be going over the complete software implementation timeline, then I feel like this will be beneficial to the vast majority of Scaling New Heights 2014 attendees.
IA: Let’s face it, trade shows are a big investment for vendors and attendees alike. What do you hope to gain from the investment you’ve made in being and exhibitor and a speaker at SNH?
JE: Regarding being an exhibitor, we feel like SNH has created a venue to interact with the most engaged QB ProAdvisors in the country. Many ProAdvisors are looking for solutions for their clients and we are that solution for many that need inventory management. We love spending time at our booth helping them find out if our solution is right for their client.
Regarding our track at SNH, we think that by providing software implementation training, we can help many ProAdvisors grow their practice. A by-product of that will be partnerships created between ProAdvisors and ACCTivate that will result in a “win-win-win” for all of us: ProAdvisors, ACCTivate and most importantly, the clients that we both serve.
IA: What are the 3 most important take aways a ProAdvisor will receive from your session?
JE: 1. A better understanding of the client discovery process and how that is a critical piece of any successful implementation. Also, how to get the client to pay for an in-depth discovery engagement.
2. An implementation process map – a guide to being able to execute the actual implementation that includes key tenants such as setup, configuration and training.
3. The technical considerations of successful software implementations. Even if ProAdvisors do not specifically handle all the technical aspects of an implementation, they need to have some tools to facilitate solving technical issues.
IA: Are you looking to connect with ProAdvisors from any particular part of the country?
JE: We look forward to helping ProAdvisors from any part of the country. As a matter of fact, I believe we will have ProAdvisors at SNH from several other countries and the Caribbean.
Publisher's Note: These sessions will take place on June 15 at 12, 2 and 4.