Success Stories

Activant Professional Services Help Make Electrical Distributor's Go-Live a Cinch

Executives at Reed City Power Line Supply know the plain truth about moving successfully from one enterprise software solution to another: "You can put your money into the best technology out there," says Ted Hoffman, a project manager at the company. "But it won't do anything for you without good education and solid buy-in from everyone in your organization."

With nine locations that span the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions, Reed City Power has been providing quality services and material to the electric utility industry since 1963. Executives at the company knew that in order to maintain their high level of service, they would need a smooth transition to Activant Prophet 21.

When Reed City Power went live on a UNIX-based solution several years ago, Hoffman admits that they skimped on training: "We used the solution well, but we could have done a lot more had we invested more time and resources on education and on educating our staff about how it would help them."

When they chose to move to Prophet 21, they worked with an Activant Implementation Consultant to develop a well-organized plan to ensure a smooth go-live. "Our entire team was gung-ho and really ready to make this work," says Hoffman.

Know Your Solution

Theresa Rasor, a director at Reed City Power, knew that a well-organized educational program consisting of different types of resources would be the first step: "We spent a lot of time working on our plan with our Implementation Consultant," she says. "We used Computer-Based Training courses to learn the basics, and developed and assigned Custom Education Program surveys to measure everyone's knowledge of the solution."

When the executives at Reed City Power discovered where their employees needed extra help, they invited an Activant Application Consultant onsite to work with them on a one-on-one basis. Rasor says that she and Hoffman appointed a "super user" at each of the company's nine locations - and asked each of them to spend extra time with the consultant. "This way, if employees have questions, each of these point-people can answer them in person - or demonstrate a process or task."

Thrive at Go-Live

Having set up a moderately paced learning schedule that included access to a "play" solution - something employees could work in without interrupting the company's regular database - the executives at Reed City Power could relax as their go-live went off without a hitch.

"We went live on time without any real stress, and spent a lot less money than we originally anticipated," says Rasor. "And all it took was a solid plan and a real commitment."

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For more information on Activant's enterprise software solutions, please fill out our Web Contact Form.

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