New ERP system at Bevola A/S

Originally published at Cloud Agility A/S's website.

Today, Bevola collaborates with the consulting company Cloud Agility on the project, and to get off to a good start, Bevola has based its work on a thorough review of its own processes:

Even before Cloud Agility came into the picture, we had started to look at our processes as a preparation for choosing a new ERP system. We involved Cloud Agility in this work, to get the processes right and not overlook anything along the way, says Nina Knudsen, Project Manager at Bevola.

Preben Nygaard Graversen Jensen from Cloud Agility teaches the employees at BEVOLA.

In the "Pre-Project Phase", which is the first phase of Cloud Agility's implementation method called Route 365, business requirements, key processes and workflows throughout the value chain were documented in close collaboration between Bevola and Cloud Agility. Here, Bevola was steadily guided through the process.

We need to give companies a full overview and a good toolbox, so that they can make the right decisions for the future, says Sanne Holme-Pedersen, Management Consultant at Cloud Agility.

Since 1968, BEVOLA has been offering quality products for the construction of trucks, trailers and semitrailers. A wide range of high-quality goods enables them to deliver solutions of all sizes.

Large storage capacity in three countries means that you can always deliver quickly. And you only need to shop in one place. BEVOLA's technical department and team of advisors are ready to help develop the right solution.

At BEVOLA they know how important it is that the equipment is in order – and matches the need. Among other things, BEVOLA has developed BevoBox™ toolboxes for trucks, which can be adapted down to the smallest detail. BevoBox™ is manufactured in materials that match customer needs in terms of weight, insulation and climate. BEVOLA also has various checkout equipment that satisfies the customer's wishes.

After the initial collaboration on process mapping and requirement specification, Bevola invited four potential partners to bid for the task of a new ERP system. Despite a close race, the final choice fell on Cloud Agility, which is now Bevola's partner in the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operation. This election has so far had a positive effect, according to Nina Knudsen: 

We chose Cloud Agility because we trust them to deliver the complete solution we need. So far, I am very pleased with the cooperation. We experience a strong and very controlled project management, where strategies are maintained, and we are guided throughout the project. 

When it comes to the final choice of supplier, Nina Knudsen says: 

We ended up choosing Microsoft Dynamics partly because it's a cloud-based solution. The platform is not completely unknown to us, as our existing system is also from Microsoft, but most importantly we feel secured in the long term with this solution, which is constantly updated. 

Jørgen Peter Rasmussen, partner at Cloud Agility, also adds that Microsoft has acted as an inspiration for their entire "universe", and has with skilled consultants helped paint the big picture of the future of Bevola. In addition, there is the close cooperation with distributor Arrow ECS, which always ensures that Cloud Agility receives proper guidance on the composition of licenses. 

In Cloud Agility, we start with the company's processes before technology. Therefore, a choice of business system will always be based on knowing the company's activities and, in particular, its most important processes.  

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance is typically aimed at the mid-sized and large companies with a global perspective and a complex supply chain, but who want to simplify their financial management with minimal customization.  

Dynamics 365 Finance is an integral part of Microsoft's entire Dynamics 365 eco system, a portfolio of intelligent business applications that deliver superior operational efficiencies and breakthrough customer experiences, enabling businesses to become more agile and reduce complexity, without increasing costs. 

For project management itself, Cloud Agility uses Microsoft DevOps, which is a standard project management tool. Cloud Agility's 'Route365' method is defined and configured in DevOps, securing the project in terms of business processes, documentation, requirements specification and testing.

In Microsoft DevOps, Bevola can go in at any time and see who is responsible for what and what processes and requirements underpin all decisions and solutions. It is a collaborative approach that helps ensure security and transparency in the collaboration, and it means that Bevola has ownership of the project – now and in the future, which is hugely important for their future business journey, explains Palle Liebe, Project Manager at Cloud Agility.

It is easy to buy advice, so the most important thing you as a customer can do, is to find a consulting company where you feel safe. Cloud Agility guides and advises the customer from A to Z – from the first assessments of a new solution, to implementation, operation and support. 

We notice that the consultants from Cloud Agility are really passionate about the project and want us to succeed. They don't just come to do a job, and then go again. It feels safe and good, says Nina Knudsen.  

The collaboration with Cloud Agility is very good. The consultants are professionally mature and committed, and it is clear that they want the best for us. All consultants have a wide range of knowledge, which overlaps very well and ultimately helps to give us the best result, adds Christian Constantin Brun.  

For Cloud Agility and their customers, it is first and foremost important to look at the processes before the technologies, so that the advice has the best possible starting point, and that it thus becomes possible to make the most difference to the business with the least possible effort. In addition, in-depth knowledge of customers' business is the entire basis for correct advice. 

It's completely irrelevant to work with technology if you don't have control over your processes. Cloud Agility has been good at identifying some of our organizational challenges and work procedures, which have then been resolved in a good and respectful way for our organization, says Christian Constantin Brun, CFO of Bevola A/S. 

Cloud Agility has two pieces of advice for business owners who are in the process of implementing new systems:

Call someone who has previous experience – it's the best way to get help getting started. And then you need to make sure you don't settle for a technology until you have a full overview of your processes. It is your business processes that determine which solution is right for you and not the other way around, concludes Jørgen Peter Rasmussen.