Regardless of industry, any successful business effectively manages their back office, collaborates with partners, suppliers, and customers, makes informed decisions, and utilizes resources. However, each industry has its unique set of challenges—and it takes the right ERP solution to address them. In the fashion industry, the key is getting collections to market as quickly and cost-efficiently as possible. Dealing with many styles and variations on styles, such as colors, sizes, and fabrics, adds another level of complexity to the process. itSuitsFashion, an ERP solution built upon Microsoft Dynamics NAV by it suits IT, was designed to meet these unique needs. it suits IT is a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner that specializes in developing technology solutions for companies in the fashion industry, including iPhone and iPad applications, B2B and B2C webshops, Sales Portals, and ERP. The company and product have an excellent reputation in the fashion industry around the world.
In 2011, it suits IT began looking at the possibility of offering its products in the RoleTailored Client version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009. This version allows users to create and customize their profile within the application to fit their roles, reduce complexity, and prioritize tasks, making them more efficient and productive. The company’s decision was based on several factors. First and foremost, the RoleTailored approach was a perfect fit for the fashion industry, so customer demand was strong. Second, the RoleTailored version is easy to implement and well-suited for running in a cloud environment—two more features that made it attractive to companies with limited IT budgets and staff. Finally, it suits IT was looking to establish a network of resellers and knew that potential partners would be looking to represent products with a RoleTailored structure. Considering these compelling reasons, the company made the decision to begin developing a Dynamics NAV RoleTailored version of itSuitsFashion.
Once the decision had been made, the next step was to develop the product for the RoleTailored environment. While users’ roles are simplified in this environment, developing a full business application in it is no easy task. It was very important to the company that they would be able to offer in the RoleTailored environment the same features that make itSuitsFashion so successful in the Classic version of Dynamics NAV—the features that sold fashion companies on the solution from the beginning, including a matrix that allows users to see every combination of garment by color and size. This and other features would have to be converted.
Not only would the it suits IT team have to write the code for the application, but they would also have to get up to speed on the RoleTailored version as well, having never worked with it. After assessing the scope of the task, Margot de Graaf, Product Manager, estimated that the conversion could take up to 18 months to complete. This was not practical, so she began looking for options to help speed up the process.
Margot turned to Mergetool.com for assistance. She found that Mergetool.com offers RTC Bootcamps, designed specifically for situation like the one she and her team were facing. RTC Bootcamps are designed to help ISVs move their products from the Dynamics NAV Classic Client version to the RoleTailored version in a short period of time. In 3 to 4 days, experienced developers/designers from the ISV receive in-depth training on tools, processes, and technical aspects of the critical features—all in a practical environment, using the ISV’s application rather than a “demo” scenario. By the end of the Bootcamp, developers are able to utilize their newly acquired knowledge to shift a large portion of the original application to working within the RoleTailored Client. While there is not enough time in a few days to complete the transformation, a plan can be established to complete the required entire project. The result: In just a few days, the ISV receives RoleTailored training, which they can then pass along to the rest of the staff, and they come back with an application that is well on its way to being ready to roll out.
In June, 2011, Margot and three other developers attended the Bootcamp. Using their training and the Transformation Tool, she and her team were able to convert forms in the Classic version into RoleTailored pages quickly and easily—including the garment matrix, which took only two hours to convert. By the second day of the Bootcamp, the team had already transformed objects—with no errors when compiling.
“Working with MergeTool.com was a really great experience,” said Margot, “They have a great working knowledge of the RoleTailored version and are good at sharing that knowledge, and working on our own database, with our own application rather than a scenario got us motivated.”
At the end of the Bootcamp, Margot and her team had the conversion from the Classic version to the RoleTailored version approximately 85% complete. With all the tools they needed to complete the development process on their own, the team was able to officially launch the product on September 16th. The entire project took just short of 11 weeks—15 months less than estimated without the Bootcamp. The company is in the process of implementing the RoleTailored version of itSuitsFashion for two clients, with more in the near future. Margot and her team are so pleased with the new application that they plan to focus future sales efforts exclusively on the RoleTailored version. As for future Bootcamps, Margot says, “We certainly experienced the benefit of a Bootcamp and will engage with Mergetool.com again for the benefit of their expertise.”
Mergetool.com focuses on delivering services, tools, and products to enhance the performance of Microsoft Dynamics NAV (formerly known as Navision). For more information on RTC Bootcamps and other training opportunities or Mergetool.com products, visit us at www.mergetool.com.