However, significant geographic distribution created certain challenges for business management, in particular in the field of financial accounting and reporting, since the company used different IT solutions for each of the countries of presence. This complicated the accounting processes, the generation of management reports, procurement and other operational processes. In addition, each system had its own characteristics and requirements that did not meet corporate standards.
Combining all management processes into a single, easy-to-analyze system created an additional burden on financial and related departments.
Therefore, the company began looking for a solution that would unify and optimize all business processes, bringing them together into a single IT ecosystem. On the one hand, it had to correspond to the company’s business model and its corporate policies, and on the other, adapt to local legislation in each of the countries of presence. The main goal that was planned to be achieved thanks to such an upgrade was to increase the level of business manageability and, as a result, optimize costs and increase the company’s competitiveness.
The choice was made in favor of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central – a modern and flexible solution for business management on an international scale.
Migration to Business Central: International Implementation Experience
Considering the presence of offices in different countries, Zolva had a clear request to unify important business processes. It was important to implement accounting and reporting in accordance with corporate standards.
Each of the local offices had employees who were well versed in how to properly organize these processes in accordance with the requirements of local legislation, but they lacked the expertise to select the appropriate IT solution.
Therefore, Zolva faced the challenge of attracting additional personnel in each country to find companies that offered and implemented the appropriate IT products, and experts who would verify the compliance of the proposed solutions with real operational needs. This option was rejected at the start as too expensive.
The company focused on finding a single partner that had enough expertise to either independently “close” these needs in each of the local offices or find partners who would do this: by appropriately localizing the basic solution from the vendor, or by offering it themselves.
The request for implementation of this project was received by SMART business, considering its many years of experience in implementing services designed to take business processes to a new level of organization and efficiency.
Why did we choose SMART business? First, because they did not have any reservations regarding the request to organize our business processes in accordance with the jurisdictions of many countries. While most companies usually limit themselves to 1-2 countries.
Today, after the completion of the project, we can say that SMART business met our expectations and became our single-entry point into the project and control over its implementation.
Also, during the cooperation, we discovered other advantages of choosing this general partner. For each request we always received at least two solutions, and at the same time, the advantages and limitations of each option were always carefully discussed with us. Also, strict compliance with our budget requirements and transparent reporting on settlements with partners.
And yet, we consider the most important advantage of cooperation with SMART business to be the rich expertise of the team and truly excellent support at all stages of implementation.
In this project, it was necessary to offer unified solutions for three countries – Norway, Spain and Luxembourg – and four business processes:
- financial accounting,
- purchases,
- sales process,
- cash management.
The SMART business team had the task of figuring out how, taking into account the legal requirements of each country, each of the four business processes should be implemented. Having carefully analyzed everything, we decided to independently “close” the general processes. This is the approval of purchases and the definition of dimensions for financial reporting. SMART business also implemented integration with specialized professional systems for the implementation of Zolva’s operations and the customer’s request that all countries have the same accounts on which accounting is kept. It was decided to involve partners exclusively for the implementation of solutions for local specifics.
All these needs were covered by the basic functionality of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central or by its localizations. For example, in Norway, a standard solution with Norwegian localization from Microsoft was introduced. In Spain, a standard solution with Spanish localization from Microsoft plus a partner solution that expands the functionality of Microsoft to include electronic invoicing and VAT tax reporting. But in Luxembourg, there is no localization from Microsoft. However, due to the simplicity of accounting in this country, there was no need to do anything additional for the local office. Everything was covered by the basic functionality of Business Central.
If we talk about financial accounting, the key solutions were Financial Accounting and Financial Reporting. In Spain, a basic standard plus a partner solution was implemented. And in Norway, a standard solution with Microsoft localization was implemented. However, the employees of the financial department of this local office had an additional request: it was important for them to recognize incoming invoices from suppliers in PDF format and automatically create documents based on them. This additional functionality was implemented through an additional solution from a local partner.
The SMART business team, after studying local conditions in each country and dividing areas of responsibility, decided on partners, signed contracts with them on behalf of the customer and conducted negotiations. It verified all their proposals in terms of the feasibility of a particular functionality for the business needs of Zolva.
SMART business also took on the quality control of the work performed, identifying all the “critical points” of implementation. Its high expertise saved the customer from inflating the budget, even though at the end of the day, each country received an operating system with comprehensive functionality.
Migration to Business Central: Challenges and Synergy of Spirit
The project to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central for Zolva started in early 2022. In February, implementation began in Spain, and in March – in Norway.
Its success is largely due to the synergy of the high expertise of the SMART business team and the involvement of the Zolva team in the project. The customer’s management was constantly working to solve all critical tasks and, if necessary, actively involved the employees responsible for the direction.
To form the most detailed analysis, a project team was created at Zolva. Representatives of the financial teams on the customer’s side in all countries where the project was implemented were actively involved in both the preparatory stage and the deployment, testing and probation processes. They voiced the requirements, tested the functionality during the process of configuring the solutions. Their feedback was constructive and professional. The contractor received comprehensive information in a timely manner about what the customer liked, what they would like to improve and how they understood this improvement.
Such a thorough approach allowed us to successfully pass the stage of starting full-fledged work with the solutions. Significant geographic distribution again became a kind of challenge when all employees, and not just members of the project team, started working in the system. There were many questions that needed to be responded to promptly. Some situations required proactive solutions. However, thanks to the mutual determination to achieve a high result, today both teams confidently call this project a success.
The SMART business team, summing up this collaboration, calls it an example of a classic WIN-WIN situation.
We are grateful to Zolva for the shared experience gained in this project. The customer was developing and, by setting tasks for us, gave us the opportunity to gain new experience. Each time, entering the markets of another country, they said: ‘We are planning to expand our business to such a country. We need a system that systematizes and unifies these and these processes. Everything needs to be done quickly and affordably. What can you offer?’ And so, we engaged in this communication. We studied the specifics of the local background, thought about what we could offer from the vendor’s portfolio, worked out options, comparing risks and opportunities. This allowed us to study the requirements of different countries, increase the level of our own expertise, and grow.
