Our valued partner, Deltek is a leading provider of software and information solutions for project-based businesses. Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, the company leverages its expertise to maximize efficiency and revenue for clients through project intelligence, management, and collaboration.
To celebrate our partnership’s 100th customer, we sat down with Michael Heinsdorf, director of product alliances and corporate development at Deltek to discuss the partnership between Deltek and insightsoftware (ISW), and how the collaboration has helped clients increase efficiency, boost ROI, and reduce time spent generating financial reports.
What advantages can Deltek and insightsoftware deliver to clients through our partnership?
The Deltek Marketplace provides partner solutions, business services, and integrations across the project lifecycle that allow project-based businesses to unlock potential, accelerate operations, and improve profitability. We’ve aligned ourselves with industry-specific software companies, including ISW, to make vendor selection easier and implementation successful for our customers.
Learning from Deltek AEC Industry Leaders: A Panel Discussion
Why has the partnership been so successful?
Project-based businesses, such as architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms, generate their revenue from managing and delivering projects. This means that they must do a good job at identifying opportunities for future work, specifically those that have been historically profitable, while also maximizing the potential of a matrixed organization. The latter can be quite challenging as there are varying specialties, skill sets, and costs associated with project staff.
For example, a structural engineer, project manager, and draftsperson may have wildly different labor rates, ranging from several hundred to just under a hundred dollars an hour. Managing the costs and utilization of those resources across one or multiple projects, while delivering high-quality work, is a primary driver of success for an AEC firm. Technical strength needs to be combined with financial acumen – and that’s one area where Deltek and ISW complement each other. The CFO or finance team needs to be able to slice and dice project financials, which is traditionally done in Microsoft Excel. They also must present those financials to the project managers or teams, which can be done using a BI tool that presents that data in an easy-to-use dashboard.
Why is reporting and analysis important for project-based businesses?
At their core, a project-based business provides services as they deliver the project. Consistent profitability and on-time delivery of projects is a primary indicator of a successful project-based business.
Tracking revenue starts at the project level. It requires a level of granularity that allows the business to identify which projects are profitable, what staff are over, under, or appropriately utilized, while identifying potential problems with projects well before they surface. What’s unique about Deltek ERP products is the concept of a project, which is tied to every single transaction, account, and organization or business unit. ISW is flexible enough to pull project data from a Deltek ERP, such as Deltek Vantagepoint, as well as other data sources, and consolidate them in a repeatable and consistent presentation.
How do Spreadsheet Server (SPS) and Bizview improve data management for project-based businesses?
I go back to the use case of a business that pulls data from multiple sources and consolidating them into a statement as being one of the strongest cases for SPS. Much of the work that happens in that particular use case is tediously manual, and the ability for SPS to create a template that allows for that data to be quickly and easily refreshed is one that our customers appreciate.
Bizview and Spreadsheet Server Integration: Your Questions Answered
What have your customers said about their experience with SPS or Bizview?
There are a couple great proof points here. The first is a case study for a joint customer, BSK Associates, a tech-forward engineering services firm out of Fresno California. Using ISW and Deltek’s products, BSK saved time reduced time spent generating reports by fully automating them.
And recently, three Deltek customers and Bret Tushaus, VP of product management with Deltek who manages our Professional Services portfolio, recently joined ISW and Deltek to talk about their experiences in a roundtable.
What is the future of this partnership?
ISW has been a great success story in the Deltek Marketplace and we look forward to continuing the relationship into the future. Since the partnership began two years ago, Deltek has gained over 100 customers.
BizView is a recent offering by ISW that has a lot of potential to help business deliberately and strategically plan their growth. The cost compared to alternatives is compelling. We’ve seen a lot of interest from business that are looking to be deliberate and strategic about their growth.
The post Excellence in Project Intelligence: Interview with Michael Heinsdorf, Director of Product Alliances and Corporate Development at Deltek appeared first on insightsoftware.
