IT GuidePoint Corporation

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the President of Unionwear, a manufacturer of Made in USA promotional accessories such as baseball caps and backpacks.

For what projects/services did your company hire IT GuidePoint Corporation, and what were your goals?

Our accounting team lacked the discipline to keep timely and accurate financial records in our ERP system, making it impossible to produce financial statements on time. Our project was to implement discipline and procedures in the department from record keeping through reporting.

How did you select this firm and what were the deciding factors?

We interviewed six candidates and found Guidepointe to be the most knowledgeable about our ERP system and also very knowledgeable about our company and industry.

Describe the engagement and overall scope of work in detail, including the stages of the partnership and any software or documents used.

Stage one was identifying all the issues with our accounting and reporting--where the leaks were, who was causing them, why, how we could stop the leaks in the short run and eliminate the underlying cause in the long run. The software is Rootstock on the Salesforce Platform. Stage two was the implementation of the plan, involving several personalities and regular remote meetings. Stage three was allowing the department to run on its own to see if the discipline was maintained, and managing remediation where issues continued.

Describe their billing or cost structure.

We settled on a weekly amount of hours and the rate of pay for those hours. We paid a retainer based on that amount and adjusted downward or upward as more or less work was necessary.

How many resources from the firm's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We mainly worked with the principal at the beginning and one CFO level consultant since that time.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the engagement or general feedback about the services?

Consultant was extremely thorough and patient--patient meaning insisted on doing everything in a way which would produce the best long term result rather than rushing through tasks just to get the job completed. The job did take longer than estimated but not through any fault of the consultant--there were just too many issues that were uncovered which ultimately led to the dismissal of our controller--which gave consultant the opportunity to build better procedures with a new staff.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

All tasks were prioritized weekly, with weekly one hour touch base meetings with all stakeholders. Several stakeholders were delayed in getting receivables to consultant, which led consultant to make sure she had backup projects to work on so we wouldn't fall farther behind.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They've been knowledgeable about the root causes of our problems, such as those in accounting and ERP.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Quite honestly--NO.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the global CIO of a company primarily dedicated to food safety and quality. We test food samples, so we’re part of the food supply chain. We’re a global company based in France, and we’re operating 100 laboratories in 26 countries.

What challenge were you trying to address with IT GuidePoint Corporation?

I’ve used IT GuidePoint for a couple of different challenges. One of them was to help us get a better understanding of software ERP deployment, which wasn’t going well for us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

IT GuidePoint came in to help us understand our processes and our changed management related to our JD Edwards ERP system and our LabWare LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System). They’ve also helped us build some capabilities that help us make the best use of those systems and change how we operate.

They helped us strategically think through what our options were, and they’ve designed solutions that work for us. Thanks to their high level of expertise, they’ve also helped us work through conflicts within our business, such as relationship changes between IP and the other business functions, which is exactly what we needed them for.

IT GuidePoint provides not only technical knowledge and software expertise, but they also combine that with the bigger challenges that come with change management. They’ve helped us manage through conflicts and pitfalls.

What is the team composition?

I’ve had six different people from IT GuidePoint working for me throughout the course of this project.

How did you come to work with IT GuidePoint Corporation?

I found IT GuidePoint through word of mouth; they were recommended to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2019. This is a multiphase project where we’ve accomplished a few goals and moved to other ones, so the engagement is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

IT GuidePoint has been instrumental in helping us reduce the cost of our LIMS rollouts by 30% as we seek to roll it out to other laboratories. We’ve already seen that benefit in recent rollouts, and we anticipate it being there for future rollouts as well.

They’ve also been instrumental in helping us work on our visibility into our profitability in our JD Edwards ERP system, which has had a significant impact on our profit margin. One or two points of profit margin are critical, and IT GuidePoint has helped us achieve a 1%–2% increase on our profit margin.

How did IT GuidePoint Corporation perform from a project management standpoint?

IT GuidePoint’s project management has been excellent. They have experienced and well-organized project managers. Their domain of responsibility is great, and they’re very good at working through issues.

We have regular meetings. During the pandemic, those meetings have been remote via Zoom. However, before that, we had some in-person meetings. They also send us reports via email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

IT GuidePoint is very adaptable. They really want to know what’s important to me, and they try to adapt their service offering to what I care about. When I ask for very specific tasks, they work hard to find a way to achieve the goal and complete them.

Other consulting providers that I’ve worked with were rigidly stuck to the way they worked, and they told me that they had the experience and that I should just follow them. IT GuidePoint, while having their own way to work, is very adaptable — I really like that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything that they could do differently. Thanks to their adaptability, Whenever there is a time where I need them to do something different, I tell them, and we figure out how to do it. Their responsiveness has allowed me to easily avoid situations that need improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Think about how you want to manage your project. If you just want a consulting company to come in and tell you what to do, IT GuidePoint can do that. However, if you think in advance about what your objectives are and work with them to figure out the way forward, you are going to get the most value out of that partnership.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of IT for the Service Parts Division of Komatsu America Corp. In this role I manage the entire IT service for the Service Parts Division including infrastructure, integration, application and business process definition.

For what projects/services did your company hire IT GuidePoint Corporation?

In 2018, we initiated a large project for replacing the systems supporting the full order life cycle for the service parts business at Komatsu. IT-G helped us define and execute the system integration testing and user acceptance testing. They started with experts that gave us a plan and then they helped us execute the plan.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

The people and the experience that IT Guidepoint brought to the effort really were impressive and experienced. IT-G brought a methodology that allowed us to face the challenges and complete the activity through 12,000 use cases.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

This project used a full SDLC including system integration testing and user acceptance testing.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We started with one testing architect and then added an administrator.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

IT Guidepoint was instrumental in assisting us develop a testing strategy, administration and activity tracking to make the project highly successful. The testing activity was extremely complex involving 12 teams, crossing continents, time zones and language barriers. IT Guidepoint guided us all the way through the test execution. We couldn't have completed this without their expertise in full system integration and user acceptance testing.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

IT-G was integrated into our team, as one team.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The knowledge and people activity to get this going.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

We could have started earlier in the project which was driven by our management and impacted IT Guidepoint's capability.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CIO for a mid size company based in Illinois. We manufacture and sell product globally.

For what projects/services did your company hire IT GuidePoint Corporation?

We hired IT GuidePoint to help us define process and implement a new ERP system for our operation.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We selected ITGuidePoint to rescue a failing ERP implementation. Our selection was based on peer recommendation and reference calls.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We followed their PDP methodology to first define the process needed to improve our operation and then using that process to implement the ERP with out customization. They were with us the entire journey to define, implement and validate our configuration.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked closely with the owner of the company as well as the lead architect. The entire project team closely communicated with our organization for a successful implementation.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The new ERP has supported our 15%+ growth.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Everything was completed on time and the communication and handoff went very smoothly. Their experience and solid documentation were a big part of our success.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their people and their knowledge of the manufacturing industry allowed them to guide us through our project and decisions. I was a much better guided experience than simply being asked what do you want?

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I would have started the project with them instead of letting others waste 6 months of our time.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CIO of a mid-sized, privately held, manufacturing company in Chicago. I also have some responsibility for supply chain.

What challenge were you trying to address with IT GuidePoint Corporation?

The company was on a very old manufacturing system ERP that was way past end of life. They brought me in to assess their environment and make recommendations that would increase their value for possible sale in the future.

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, they assessed the ERPs available in the marketplace to see if they were fit for the organization. From there, we conducted workshops and ran the executive team through the evaluation process to narrow down a final recommendation. From there, we dovetailed into ERP planning (securing the budget and resources), implementation, and go live.

The solution we chose was an Oracle JD Edwards implementation because of its manufacturing focus and configuration flexibility. We have manufacturing facilities here, as we handle everything from the shop floor to ordering and cash. The solution’s multi-mixed mode allowed us to account for all those processes.

They used a cloud-based tool called IBM Blueworks to map out all our core processes and then printed them and pasted them onto our wall. The executive team came to review the information, which included complete engineering product lifecycles, and they identified problems in their time-to-market pipeline. IT GuidePoint then guided us through a deconstruction and reconstruction process, resulting in a bill of material changes that they moved through.

They developed a system that allowed us to group our 7,000 sellable products into marketing groups based on numbers automatically assigned during fabrication. Finally, IT GuidePoint put all our products into the new ERP configurator.

What is the team composition?

IT GuidePoint assigned a project manager for the assessment process, and when we were ready to implement our solution, a team of ERP resources came in. We worked with probably one dozen members from their team at that time.

How did you come to work with IT GuidePoint Corporation?

I had done some work with David (Founder & Managing Partner) in the past at a prior organization. That business was a SAP shop, and I engaged IT GuidePoint to help us with some SAP upgrades. We’d acquired a business in Mexico and wanted to bring them on to our sales and distribution module. IT GuidePoint went and got the resources for me. It was a very good experience.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost for our organization was $15 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work kicked off in early Q1 2012 and ended in Q3 2015.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

With the new system, pricing products went from taking weeks to minutes because of the information compiled in the ERP. Our ability immediately increased on the order-entry side, as did our data organization. IT GuidePoint gave us a streamlined structure to our process that delivered insights into our bill of materials and other business data. This was the most valuable part of the engagement.

Regarding timelines, we went live a full month earlier than expected, saving the company almost $2 million related to burn rate and loss of revenue. IT GuidePoint’s execution was very good and very fast.

How did IT GuidePoint Corporation perform from a project management standpoint?

I was very pleased with their work in this aspect. I was always kept up to date on the hours we were using per person so I knew how to project our spend every quarter. This information was then communicated to our leadership team at the beginning of each phase.

What did you find most impressive about them?

IT GuidePoint brought with them experience in knowing how the ERP process would work based on their projects with other organizations. This translated into knowledge about project methodology and management.

They led our executive team through off-site workshops at the beginning of every phase, and they prepared me for the board of director’s meetings. In those instances, the IT GuidePoint team provided a slide deck with details about the project’s burn rate and financials, as well as beneficial changes made to date.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were spot on.

Any advice for potential customers?

You can’t turn your ERP over to anybody without being hands-on, especially at the CIO level. You have to hold the line and be visible, partnering with them in an authentic manner.

An ERP is going to transform your business. Unless you're doing something that’s so markedly different in the marketplace as to make you a differentiator, then shift your business to fit the existing ERPs.

Additionally, you have to align the executive team on what's going because introducing a new ERP is going to ruffle feathers. People have to understand the data and the process, both in the present and how they want those aspects to operate in the future.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the COO

For what projects/services did your company hire IT GuidePoint Corporation?

We engaged IT Guidepoint Corporation to assist us with visualizing data and processes and find solutions to those challenges.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

After several calls and meetings, we engaged IT Guidepoint Corporation to assist us with visualizing data and processes and find solutions to those challenges. Their expertise was immediate and they were very accommodating to our needs and budget while providing outstanding solutions to challenges. Their team has been able to quickly streamline our project, and get it back on track.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

Confidential.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Their main architect, two business analysts, and the owner of the company.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The project is confidential, however, their expertise was immediate and they were very accommodating to our needs and budget while providing outstanding solutions to challenges. Their team has been able to quickly streamline our project, and get it back on track. We have been a customer for about six months now and our productivity is better, our stress is lower, and we are excited to work beside them to complete the mission. IT Guidepoint has not only delivered our return on investment, but they have also expedited that return with their efficiency. If you are looking for a highly-skilled, professional, solution-oriented team, IT Guidepoint will deliver beyond expectations.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They plan and run meetings extremely well.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Absolutely none.