Turnkey Technologies, Inc.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a company called Medical Transportation Management, and we are a brokerage company that operates in the medical and transportation space. We broker transportation services in the Medicare and the Medicaid industry.

What is your position?

I am the vice president of finance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Turnkey Technologies?

We were on an old financial and accounting platform, so we used them when we selected Microsoft Dynamics GP, and they were our integrator. They did everything from providing demos and helping us pick a software solution, and then they actually implemented the solution that we chose. We use a large Microsoft suite of products. We actually have an enterprise arrangement with them. We go to them for all of our more technical needs.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in more detail.

We didn't customize the solution by ourselves, we used the out-of-the-box version. However, they had to tailor it for our business operations. We spent a lot of time with them understanding what would need to be tailored and how our data and our workflows could fit into successfully into the GP platform. Since then, we've had them build us some additional modules, or some additional data interfaces, to do things that work with GP, but not necessarily built as part of the GP platform.

They did a lot of the project management, as well as a lot of the system integration. We had our own IT [information technology] teams that were working with them directly to set up servers and coordinate some of the integration, but they helped us with even all of that – the integration with our other systems and the subsequent configuration.

They've been heavily involved in working with us even since then, and we use them for different projects even today. They've built two integrated modules, and they're in the process of building another one. They built a contract management module, and they built a kind of fixed asset project accounting module. They're in the process of building an allocations module for us, too.

We also use them just for some of the day-to-day support where we have specific questions that we can't find the answer to. They also help us identify other platforms that work with GP, like when we rolled out our fleet management system, and then they do all of our training. They come in once every quarter and spend a lot of time with us training us on how GP works, what some of the other things are that we can use to improve our business.

How did you come to work with Turnkey Technologies?

I don't know because I wasn't here at the very initiation of the project when they first reached out to Turnkey. I don't know how they were selected.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

My guess is we probably spend somewhere around $40,000 to $50,000 with them annually.

What is the status of this engagement?

They implemented our system January 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We don't have anything that I could give you from a benchmarking-type data perspective. I don't have anything that I could just give to you.

We like working with Turnkey. I think they're very reliable and very responsive. I don't think there's any vendor that you can say is 100 percent perfect. The one thing that I really liked specifically about Chris [Gherardini, president and owner of Turnkey Technologies] is that if we ever do have issues, he's very good about calling me, and we walk through them. They are very reasonable in the way we resolve them. It's more of a partnership, and I think that works really well.

How did Turnkey Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They're really on top of things from a project management perspective, although that wasn't always the case. Now, they always come in on time with their deliverables, and we rarely if ever have issues with defective work. It did take some time to establish a good workflow with them.

What distinguishes Turnkey Technologies from other providers?

Turnkey Technologies is very responsive and very collaborative. They do a good job listening to us and trying to understand our unique circumstances. They also spend some time helping us from a strategic standpoint. I know that I can always call Chris and say, "Hey, we're looking to do this. Can you help us come up with some alternatives, or maybe think through how we could architect this?" He does a good job with that.

Is there anything Turnkey Technologies could have improved or done differently?

Especially in the beginning, I think they had some struggles with project management. I think they kind of beefed up that area, and they're getting a lot better at it. We're seeing fewer concerns through the course of the relationship.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are in pork production; we're actually more of a management company in the pork industry. Under us, we have a transportation company, we have a marketing production company, and we have a genetics company. We have around 700 employees right now, throughout Nebraska, South Dakota, and Canada. We manage several different companies that work in pork production, genetics, and transportation.

What is your position and responsibilities?

I am an analyst in IT [information technology]. I do development and businesses analysis work when we're looking at new software, and pretty much everything related to IT.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Turnkey Technologies?

When I first started, we were with a different provider. We have a big accounting system, so we used Microsoft Dynamics GP [Great Plains]. You have to have a value-added reseller, and our previous provider just wasn't meeting our needs. We had one guy who was our go-to guy, and he was being stretched in way too many directions and just wasn't giving us the feedback and the deliveries that we needed to get our projects done.

As a result, we went with another company and did a huge implementation with them. I guess that didn't go as expected, either. I felt like I was managing the project all by myself when that's what I hired them to do, and it didn't go well. We actually just finished cleaning up some of the stuff that went wrong two years ago with them, just in the last few months.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in more detail.

I handle most of the day-to-day support and maintenance of the system. I bring them in when we have a bigger project to undertake, or if I hit a point where there's something wrong, and I need to pull somebody in to bounce ideas off of and get their help. In other words, use them for bigger projects like upgrades and implementing a new third-party product.

We did have them do some custom development work with our genetics team. We pulled in a development team from them because our team in-house isn't big enough to do everything that the company wants to do, so we did utilize their resources for that. I know my network administrator has pulled in their network team to help him with some things as well. We use them on all fronts as far as GP, new projects, and network assistance.

How did you come to work with Turnkey Technologies?

We were looking for another provider. We talked to some references for Turnkey, pulled them in, and we've been happy with them ever since.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I guess it depends on what we have going on. I know for our genetics company it's been big this year, maybe more than $60,000 for them. Our side is probably not so high, maybe $11,000. I don't know unless I look at the invoices. I can pull it from the system if you need me to. $50,000 to $200,000 would be an accurate range, if we're talking company-wide.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I know that with the custom development they've done, I've been on every meeting for that. I haven't been too involved on setting the scope or anything, but our DNA side, they're happy with the product that has come out. It seems to really flow.

When I needed assistance from them, they're always getting back to me at a good time. I have had no problem with them doing that, as far as support goes. I've actually been happy with them.

How did Turnkey Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

It seems like Turnkey has a good project management system in place to keep everybody working on their tasks and deciding when they're due and when they should be done, which helps. It's gone very well.

What distinguishes Turnkey Technologies from other providers?

I'm glad we found Turnkey Technologies when we did. They're much better than the previous guys we worked with, much more responsive to our needs, and much more reliable. 

Is there anything Turnkey Technologies could have improved or done differently?

We're set to do an upgrade. I wanted to do it at the end of July, but our third-party people weren't ready, so nothing Turnkey could do about that. Now, they are ready, they have been ready for a couple weeks now. I've been trying to work with somebody at Turnkey to get it scheduled. I wanted to get it scheduled for the last weekend of August, and I'm not getting a lot of feedback from them. I keep getting an email saying, "Yes, I'm trying to nail down a date," and I hope to get it locked down soon. That's the only painful thing I've been going through, trying to get a date for an upgrade set with them, so I'd say it's really minimal. Other than that, everything has just been great working with them.

BACKGROUND

Could you please provide a brief description of your company?

We sell medical supplies. We’re a wholesaler. We sell in the United States, Canada, and several other regions around the world. Our sales are conducted primarily via catalog with phone orders, but we also have a growing Web presence.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your main goal or objective for undertaking the project with Turnkey?

It was a switchover from a previous ERP system to Microsoft GP. They were the implementer, if you will, of that program.

What was your motivation to make the switch to GP?

We grew out of the program that we had before. It was time to expand our capabilities. 

SOLUTION

What was your process for discovering and selecting Turnkey to work with?

We were a hosted environment and we worked with the company that hosts for us in an attempt to find a solution. They introduced us to a number of different platforms. There were several reasons for our selection of GP, one of which is the integrated Web part that’s available through a company called Azox. We were compelled by that feature, in particular. Web integration was the next logical step. 

How long ago was the project completed?

We've been utilizing GP for nearly three years now. 

Can you provide a general cost estimate for the project?

After considering the GP platform itself and the Azox the Web component, I would estimate the cost to be approximately $150,000 - $175,000; somewhere within that range.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How happy are you with the results?

We’re quite pleased. We enjoy where we are with GP. It’s a substantial program with vast capabilities, and we’re still learning it. There’s still significant portions of the program that we don’t understand that we’re still trying to learn. We make efforts to accomplish minor learning tasks every day. The Web component has really been a huge advantage for us. The website, through the provider Azox, has 100 percent integration into GP. When a customer logs in with their unique reference number, they’re in our system, managing their account as if they’re one of our customer service reps. They can do just about everything that we can do on this end of the computer. For a company our size and in an industry like ours, that’s virtually unheard of. We’re very happy with those two aspects. GP grants a lot of flexibility and a lot of power that we didn’t have before.

When you’re working with Turnkey, did you notice anything that was unique or special compared to other developers or vendors that you’ve previously worked with?

Turnkey has a number of things going for them. One of them is a real commonsensical one, from a physical standpoint. They’re located within 100 yards of our building, so they’re very easy to get onsite. That’s not always necessary as a hosted environment because developers can gain remote access. Nevertheless, their physical proximity made the implementation process extremely convenient. We've thoroughly enjoyed everybody that we’ve dealt with. They were meticulous and comprehensive. We're still collaborating with them, too. We’ve been going through an upgrade with the Web component and they’ve been heavily involved in it, helping us through the process. It’s an excellent relationship. I think a large part of it is due to Chris Gherardini, the owner. He’s very much involved. Whenever there’s an issue that requires escalation, he’s always right there on top of it, getting involved, and getting his hands dirty. It’s another aspect I really like about them.

In retrospect, is there anything that you’d do differently a second time around or think Turnkey could improve upon?

I’ve had conversations with them about this. Prior to the GP implementation, there was about a six-week period where went through a pre-implementation phase. Unfortunately, at that time, we didn’t know enough about the program to make that worthwhile. I think if we were to do it again, we would transition to the implementation more rapidly and spend more time on the follow-up, rather than on that pre-implementation period. There were times when they were discussing the nuances and caveats about the platform and we had never even seen it. We didn’t know exactly what to expect. We didn’t have the hooks to hang those thoughts on. When the actual implementation came along, there were a lot of times we were thinking: "I know we covered that in the pre-implementation phase, but I certainly can’t remember any of it because none of it really stuck." That’s my only suggestion. I think they have actually made some changes to it since then because we weren’t the only ones that had mentioned the confusion. It's four to six weeks before you actually implement the program. There’s a lot of relatively useless training because people are unfamiliar with the program and its contents.

BACKGROUND

Could you please provide a brief overview of your company?

We’re a distribution business. We represent approximately 25 different manufacturers distributing products to the golfing industry: fertilizers, chemicals, grass seeds, and accessories.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your main goal or objective for undertaking the project with Turnkey?

I’ve known Chris, the owner of Turnkey Technologies, for nearly 25 years now and have been dealing with them and a couple of different organizations. I started my own business nearly three years ago. As a new business we opted for Microsoft Dynamics as our preferred accounting platform. They set us up just to get the business rolling and everything.

SOLUTION

Can you provide a general cost estimate for the project?

I would estimate it cost $10,000 for the software and consultations.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How happy are you with the results?

Oh I’m very pleased.

When working with Turnkey Technologies, is there anything that you found unique or special compared to other vendors that you’ve worked with?

From my own perspective, the ability to talk directly to Chris was extremely beneficial. He’s got a pretty good understanding of it, and how we wanted to deploy the system and things of that nature. We purchased a bunch of assets from a previous place I worked, which required inventory inputting into the new system. He was able to coordinate all of that for us. I would say their overall knowledge and the solutions they provide for their customers are excellent.

In retrospect, is there anything that you’d do differently or think Turnkey might be able to improve upon?

No, I’m very pleased with it. We’ve conducted all of the upgrades along the way with Turnkey, too, as Microsoft releases new versions. They’ve always done a good job with handling most issues as well.