Southeastern Surveying & Mapping Is Transforming Operations with Vantagepoint

In any project-based business, the ability to access accurate data, streamline workflows, and collaborate effectively can make the difference between simply keeping up and truly excelling. For Southeastern Surveying & Mapping Corporation (SSMC)—a nearly 300-employee firm with offices throughout Florida, Alabama, and North Carolina—modernizing their internal systems was more than a convenience. It was a critical step toward supporting their rapid growth, expanding geographic footprint, and maintaining the high standards their clients have come to rely on.

Rebecca Bess, Director of Administration/Counsel, and Sandra Young, Director of Finance, shared the firm’s journey to Deltek Vantagepoint, the unified ERP platform now powering nearly every aspect of their operations. Their story demonstrates how a surveying firm with decades of legacy processes successfully transitioned into a fully digital, data-driven, and growth-ready organization.

A Legacy of Growth: About Southeastern Surveying & Mapping

Southeastern Surveying & Mapping Corporation has been a fixture in the Southeast for more than 52 years, offering surveying, mapping, subsurface utility engineering, and geospatial services across public and private sectors. Their corporate headquarters is located in Orlando, FL supported by major offices across Florida in Chipley, Pensacola, Panama City, Marianna, Jacksonville, and Mount Dora. In addition, the firm has expanded into Alabama and North Carolina, most recently opening a location in Salisbury.

The company’s workload is substantial, often exceeding 2,000 projects per year, and requires a high degree of coordination among administrators, field crews, project managers, and technical staff.

Faced with a large geographic footprint, high project volume, and complex workflows, SSMC recognized the need for greater efficiency and standardization. Previously, outdated systems hindered their ability to meet these demands until the adoption of Vantagepoint.

Life Before Vantagepoint: A Patchwork of Outdated Tools

Prior to transitioning to the Deltek platform, SSMC relied on FoxPro and SagePro ERP before moving to Microsoft Dynamics in an effort to combine ERP and financial functions. But even with Microsoft Dynamics in place, the system lacked many capabilities the firm needed to operate efficiently.

Key limitations included an inability to track marketing pursuits, difficulty in monitoring projects across their lifecycle, and reliance on a system needing extensive customization just for basic functions. As Rebecca noted, "We weren’t able to track pursuits or projects the way we wanted. We were very restricted in how we could operate because it looked and functioned like a high-level FoxPro system."

Recognizing these persistent inefficiencies, the leadership team realized a modern ERP was essential to eliminate manual, paper-driven processes and support the firm’s future needs.

Why the Firm Chose Vantagepoint

When SSMC began evaluating its options, Deltek quickly rose to the top. Many of their clients were already using Deltek Vision, which gave the firm familiarity with the stability and reputation of Deltek products. At the same time, Deltek made it clear that Vantagepoint represented the future.

Rebecca explained their decision-making process: “We wanted a system where we didn’t need to do any customizing. We wanted to use it right out of the box. That’s why we transitioned to Vantagepoint.”

Beyond ease of use, Vantagepoint also aligned with their long-term growth strategy. The firm wanted to expand its distributed workforce across multiple states and needed a cloud-based platform that made remote collaboration seamless. As Rebecca shared, “By having Vantagepoint and the online platform, it gave us the opportunity for teams to work in multiple locations simultaneously. It was essential for our future business model.”

The decision was also supported by a strong implementation experience. Deltek Professional Services worked closely with the SSMC team, guiding them through a smooth and well-supported transition.

How the Firm Uses Vantagepoint Today

Since adopting Vantagepoint in 2020, SSMC has integrated the platform into almost every aspect of its operations. Because surveying firms typically manage a large number of small, fast-turnaround projects, having a system capable of handling scale, variations, and custom needs was essential.

Vantagepoint now supports the full lifecycle of every project, from pursuit to completion, and serves as the company’s central repository for all project, contract, marketing, and administrative data. Rebecca described Vantagepoint as the company’s “single source of truth,” a phrase that reflects how essential the system has become to daily operations.

The firm uses Vantagepoint to track marketing pursuits, analyze wins and losses, document competitive patterns, and strengthen decision-making. Their CRM usage allows them to understand why they lost a pursuit, which competitors are gaining traction in a particular region, and how to refine strategies for future cycles. This level of insight was impossible before Vantagepoint.

SSMC has also created user-defined hubs tailored to the surveying world, enabling them to track specific fields such as section, township, and range—critical elements for reporting and record keeping. These configurations help them run more accurate reports without compromising the integrity of the system.

Perhaps most importantly, Vantagepoint has significantly improved internal visibility. Project managers, office managers, administrators, and financial personnel all rely on dashboards for real-time performance metrics. These dashboards allow team members to see invoicing progress, contract revenue, project status, and other essential data without chasing down documents or emailing colleagues.

“Instead of contacting someone for a document, everything is at their fingertips,” Rebecca said. “The goal is to make information accessible to everyone who needs it.”

Enhancing Financial and Purchasing Processes

From a financial operations standpoint, Vantagepoint has helped structure previously manual tasks. Sandra has overseen the implementation of Vantagepoint’s purchasing module, which replaces the old practice of emailing requests to a purchasing department. Now, purchasing is tracked through requisitions and purchase orders within the system.

Sandra shared, “We implemented the purchasing system to track spending, control purchasing standards, and ensure visibility. We’re rolling it out gradually, but already it’s helping us improve consistency.”

The team is also using Vantagepoint’s intelligent character recognition (ICR) functionality to capture data from accounts payable invoices. By automatically reading vendor invoices and auto-populating fields, ICR has reduced manual entry and sped up processing time. Sandra noted that the AP team has been pleased with the feature’s ease and accuracy.

Looking Ahead: Continued Innovation

SSMC is also exploring additional Deltek solutions to further streamline operations. One major priority is integrating with Replicon Time Tracking for Vantagepoint for time entry. Because 75% of the workforce consists of field employees who work in crews, the team needs a system where party chiefs can enter time for the entire crew.

Rebecca explained, “We need a solution where the party chief can manage crew time, keep it consistent, and ensure it aligns with project work. Replicon will help us bridge that gap.”

The finance team is looking forward to implementing Vantagepoint Payments: AR Automation (coming soon), which will allow invoices to be sent, tracked, and resent directly from Vantagepoint and will allow their clients to pay invoices electronically. This eliminates manual downloading, emailing, and record-keeping and provides full visibility into the billing cycle.

“Right now, invoices are sent individually from billers’ inboxes,” Sandra said. “We want everything to be sent automatically and tracked in Vantagepoint to reduce errors and improve transparency.”

Advice for Firms Considering Vantagepoint

When asked what she would say to other firms evaluating Vantagepoint, Rebecca didn’t hesitate.

“For me, it’s a great ERP system with a great future. Once you learn how to navigate the hubs and reports, you can master it quickly. It has tremendous potential.”

She also emphasized the transformational impact Vantagepoint has had on their organization. “For a firm that was heavily paper-based, Vantagepoint has helped us become more digital, more structured, and better positioned for growth. I would encourage any firm—especially those relying on paper—to try Vantagepoint.”

SSMC’s transition to Vantagepoint is a powerful example of how a modern ERP can transform a long-standing, fast-growing business. From improving project lifecycle management to strengthening financial processes, supporting distributed teams, and enabling data-driven decisions, Vantagepoint has become a foundation for the firm’s future.

As Rebecca summarized, “Vantagepoint has become our single source of truth. It helps us operate smarter and prepares us for future growth.”

Their story is one of modernization, empowerment, and the impact of choosing the right technology at the right time, and it shows exactly how Deltek solutions can equip firms to thrive for decades to come.