You could almost hear the eye rolls throughout the room. About one year ago, we were announcing to our team that, yes, Firefly Business Group was indeed going to make a run at offering another cloud ERP product. Yes, we had done a tremendous amount of research this time. And yes, we felt confident that we had made a great ERP software selection by choosing Acumatica as our partner.
But I could certainly empathize with the people in that room. We had kissed our fair share of software frogs in the past, and there had not been a lot of royalty in any of those. To say it had been difficult to present a compelling case for many of our clients to move to these previous product offerings was an understatement. It was a big problem. Every face in the room acknowledged that problem.
However, this time felt different.
The Acumatica cloud ERP difference
We have a fairly large client base of Acctivate/QuickBooks users, and each year, a good number of those clients outgrow that solution and move on to a better-fitting ERP system. These clients were our first priority with a new cloud ERP solution, and we already knew from previous discussions what they wanted:
- A system that was better than what they already had and was easy to buy
- The ability to continue using Firefly Business Group for the ERP implementation and support
- A complete solution that replaces multiple disparate systems and offers options for deployment
- And a Total Cost of Ownership model and ROI that make it an easy decision to justify
Almost one year into our partnership with Acumatica, we’re armed with a five-page list of features Acumatica provides over the Acctivate/QuickBooks pairing. Acumatica’s cloud ERP solution has made it easy for our clients to purchase from us by giving us the flexibility to eliminate the typical up-front cash flow hit that comes with a new software purchase. Instead, we offer a monthly payment that includes the software subscription, ERP implementations, training, and a generous support plan.
Acumatica has a very partner-friendly business structure that makes Firefly Business Group the focal point for our clients. We hear all of the time from our clients that they like working with us, and they want to continue working with us. Acumatica offers a strong Acumatica partner program, providing us an impressive onboarding process that brought us quickly up to speed and our clients will ultimately see the benefits of that process. We are more prepared than ever to help our clients successfully move to a new software platform.
Gone are the days of syncing unrelated systems. Acumatica includes financials, distribution, field service, eCommerce, and manufacturing all inside of one system.
A few days ago, I spoke to a client that mentioned that he had just purchased a new server, and he did not want to lose the value of that server. With most cloud solutions, he would not have the option to utilize this server. But with Acumatica’s Private Cloud Subscription deployment option, we can make good use of that server throughout its life cycle, and then spin his instance up to the cloud when that server’s life is expired.
And finally, we get to that last bullet point in the list. We would suggest that the time to move to the cloud is NOW, and the most compelling reason is financial. Even when compared to the relatively low-cost legacy system that our clients have already purchased, upgrading to a new cloud-based ERP like Acumatica just makes good business sense.
We are not pulling that claim out of thin air. We have the numbers to prove it. And by the time we get to the discussion of the ROI of moving to a modern ERP platform like Acumatica, our clients will already know it’s a good decision.
All in with Acumatica cloud ERP
One year as an Acumatica partner and the eye rolls have been replaced by excitement. Our team knows that Acumatica was the right choice. They feel the momentum building. They see the commitment from Acumatica. It has almost become a perfect storm in a sense, and we’ve never looked back. Firefly Business Group is all in with Acumatica.