IT Consultancy Firm Banqsoft Accelerates Mergers And Acquisitions With Deltek Maconomy

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When it comes to digital transformation, most businesses focus on the technology side: the systems, software and specialists that replace analogue processes with faster digital alternatives. While Banqsoft’s choice of solution was important, there was much more that went into its transformation success.

Banqsoft has been delivering financial software and IT consultancy to firms in the Nordics since 1994. Today, it supports customers from offices all over the Nordics region and in Poland, offering expertise and ideas to help organisations stay ahead of the digital curve.

Before it started working with Deltek, Banqsoft found it had less control, and less agility when it came to making changes to the business. “Before we had to spend a lot of time on the counting and reconciliations,” says Tone Ramstad, Group Finance Manager at Banqsoft. “This meant we didn’t have the time available to implement changes across our business. In fact, things moved so slowly back then that we couldn’t even do our closing on a monthly basis like we do now.”

As it grew over the years, Banqsoft also found its legacy ERP solution could no longer keep up with its cross-border transactions. “As we started to manage resources from our multiple companies, any systems we used had to be able to process transactions from different regions and companies in one database,” says Ramstad.

The company needed a solution that could incorporate transactions from different locations, and in different currencies, seamlessly. Its solution of choice also needed to support future growth and accelerate mergers and acquisitions, and be suitable for projects ranging from shorter, 50-hour implementations, to larger consultancy projects that take thousands of hours across the team.

Only one solution met all of Banqsoft’s needs. “Deltek’s Maconomy was the only option we found that met all our criteria and would support transactions from all our companies in one database,” says Ramstad.

Great solutions need great support

Since using Maconomy, Banqsoft has rationalised financials from across its companies in a single database. Beyond delivering a single source of truth, it helps the entire business move faster than it could when using its legacy tools. “We purchased a new company in Denmark in early 2020, and got all the new employees reporting their hours in Maconomy in just four weeks,” say Ramstad.

“With our old system, this kind of rapid on boarding wouldn’t be possible. And it’s not just about what it does for us. I think our customers also really appreciate how quickly we’re now able to create and distribute invoices each month. We’re also able to be more flexible with our customers now. Project managers are easily able to take out any statistics they need, and split the projects up based on a customer’s needs”

For other organisations, the story might end there. But Ramstad, and the wider Banqsoft leadership team, knew that even the best digital solutions can’t fulfil their potential unless they’re properly implemented and supported.

“Choosing the right solutions is critical, but there’s lots of additional advice I’d give to other firms embarking on their own transformations,” says Ramstad. “One of the most important things we did was we kept our minds open throughout our transformation journey. Only by looking at new ways of approaching old processes can you truly make the most of a new digital system.”

Ramstad suggests a three-pronged approach to keeping an open mind and finding opportunities to ensure a stress-free system deployment.

Don’t delay with upgrades

In 2018, Banqsoft began upgrading Deltek Maconomy to version 2.4. The upgrade brought new features to Banqsoft, and also helped the team realise the value of staying proactive with updates.

“One important lesson learned from the upgrade project was that we should have upgraded earlier,” Says Ramstad. “At that point, we hadn’t upgraded in five years, so we’d been running on a non-supported version for a long time. That meant our upgrade process was more complicated than if we’d kept up to date. When we did upgrade, we realised we’d been missing out on new functionality and regular improvements to core processes and system.”

Cross-LOB collaboration is crucial

Digital transformation affects all departments, and a successful transformation relies on input from all LOBs. While technical staff drive the implementation, deployment is faster and more efficient if all lines of business work as a team with clear goals and objectives.

“Throughout our Maconomy implementation, we made sure to maintain strong collaboration with our IT department. Keeping the lines of communication was an essential part of our rollout,” says Ramstad.

Find the right partner

It’s vital to get everyone within your organisation working together to make the transformation a success, but sometimes you need a little help from outside your business.

”Having an experienced partner like Deltek on hand to help with system deployment and on boarding opened a lot of doors for us,” says Ramstad. “The right consultants can bring in third-party expertise to help show you new opportunities and ways of doing things you might not have thought of on your own. And it’s so important that the consultants are globally spread, so they can provide local expertise on region-specific legislation and legal requirements.”

Beyond spotting new opportunities for your systems, the right partner can also provide essential technical support to ensure a smooth deployment.

Deltek offered this kind of business and technology support throughout Banqsoft’s rollout, and worked closely with IT staff and users to ensure it was successful. “We collaborated well across our IT teams, hosting vendors, and the amazing consultants at Deltek,” says Ramstad. “Between the three groups, we got up and running quickly and delivered a system that meets all our needs.”

Learn more about how Maconomy ERP helps maximise end user productivity through industry and role-specific functionality.

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