Lengthy Implementation

[dfletcher]

Our firm has been in the process of implementing Deltek for 1.5 years, and we are still waiting to go live. Is this normal??? We have found what we consider to be a huge issue with the software. If 2 users access the same file at the same time, the 2nd user is not notified that the file is in use. The 2nd user also is not able to save changes made to the file, even after the 1st user closes the file. We have confirmed this with our implementation specialist. Since Vision is a multi-user program designed to be accessed by multiple users at the same time, does anyone know a way around this?

Our marketing department is not happy with the way Vision processes SF330's. Any insight would be appreciated. We are so frustrated over the lack of performance with this product that we are close to scrapping the whole thing and starting over with a different program. Thanks for your comments.

[Gerald Cox]

No, I'd say that's not normal but then again, I don't know your environment and company size.

I'm not sure what you mean about an open file. Are you talking about a database record or the Document Management component? Have you sought Deltek's assistance?

[dfletcher]

We have 19 employees.

By open file, I mean 2 users being in the same database record at the same time - accessing project information through the Info Center and attempting to update the file. Our implementation specialist said she will contact Deltek and see if they can work out a solution. We are very surprised, given the widespread use of Vision, that this has not been addressed before. With multiple users accessing the database at one time, at some point 2 users will be in the same project file at the same time.

Our implementation has been riddled with one roadblock after another, and these are not problems encountered with our server or system. At one point, there was an error in the database that took Deltek 6 weeks to fix - and even then, they just "undid" the error and did not "fix" it, as was promised by our specialist. We are most dissatisfied. Suggestions?

[Gerald Cox]

We've been on Vision for 5 years and have never really had a issue with the "overwrite protection" in Vision. The error message has been a very rare occurrence for us but when it has happened, the user is presented with a message that says someone else has modified the record. The second user has to reopen the record (you can do this by clicking on the Info Center that you're in) and redo the changes. This has been sufficient for us. Something like an automatic compare sounds like a nice wish list item to suggest but I wouldn't call it a "deal breaker".

It sounds like you're pretty frustrated with Deltek at the moment. Maybe you should seek out one of the independent consulting companies. I'm sure they'd be happy to offer some solutions. I've listed three below:

http://www.teamabsolute.com/
http://www.centralconsultinggroup.com/
http://www.jewellassociates.com/

[dfletcher]

Thanks for your input!

[Gerald Cox]

No problem! I hope you have better luck with it in the future.

[yelchuru]

Hi,

In my organisation also they spend 2 yrs and failed on the success, after that we formed 2 people.
I am from IT, one person from Accounting we implemented a Proof of Cocept in 3 months and succeed and implement the same in 2 months. (ofcourse still some changes required -- in any ERP it never end story).

Thanks,
Vijaya

[DianeMagnuson]

I don't find the amount of time you are reporting too unreasonable. It took us 9 months to go live with one employee on the conversion full time and 15-20 others part time. We were using what was then Wind2 FMS and found our processes to be the hold up - not the conversion of data. Other members of our local users group have taken similar amounts of time, and one firm took at least 2 years. It seems to be a lot like painting a room. The amount of prep work you do can make or break your implementation.

We have been live for over 3 years and we insist that our 80+ Project Managers create their own project records. Each project is then examined by Admin staff to make sure it conforms to our standards. (Yes, we use work flow to do much of that tolerance checking, but you just can't replace the human eye.) We have the potential for many hands to be working on the same data records at the same time, but that doesn't seem to be a much of an issue for us.

We are currently running Vision 5.1. The area with the most sensitivity to data corruption-type problems is Project Planning and we have had problems with multiple users in a single plan at the same time with negative results. In Vision 6.1, Deltek has created an Option to 'Check out' a Plan and keep conflicts from happening. Since we are only in a test mode, I can't report on what happens when my Project Managers try to really use it, but it seems simple enough.

We are not using the SF330 module at this time. I found this post while looking for recommendations on how to use the Project Codes.

I would also add SilverEdge at http://www.silveredge.com to the list of consultants to consider. I have found them to be very honest with me about what they can do, what recommendations they have regarding approach, and what the software can do. Good Luck!

[TagishEng]

Maybe we are the exception here, but we were live in 3 months. We have 23 employees . .. similar to you . .. and really the only issues I've had have been minor. Perhaps our consultant did a good job reading the needs of our company and getting it all set up. I guess it all depends what you want, but we aren't using the project planning module yet, as the basic budgeting features are good enough for now. We also figured that we should bring modules on in stages . . . trying to do it all at once would be too overwhelming. Our consultant agreed with this attitude as well. Another local company just added the project planning module and they are up around 130 employees . . . they had no need for it over the past five years.

I was the main person in the implementation. I took old data and entered into a test database to do a month long dummy run. I produced invoices, payed cheques, looked at the financials and tested all the users. This process really helped me understand the costing side of Vision. I would say the accounting and costign side is by far the trickiest part; time/expense entry and invoicing is easy. Any problems I encountered, I went initially to the consultant, but now am exclusively using the Vision Support. It's a mixed bag from them. I've had guys tell me I need to program special scripts to perform certian tasks, only to discover a simple solution that was in Vision all along. It's frustrating, but I also realize it's difficult for them to know what's going on from arm's length. Sometimes just getting the support staff to comphrehend your issue is the tough part.

My suggestion is to stay away from email. Get the support staff on the phone, and see what you think of them. I've dealt with a few excellent support staff who I keep using for issues. If I don't like the person, case closed and I'll try again in a while.