CMiC Construction Platform vs. Global Shop Solutions ERP vs. Microsoft Dynamics SL

CMiC is a robust platform best suited for large companies with resources for implementation and management of the program. One analogy is CMiC is like a droid phone where the user must decide how to use all the features of the program (as opposed to an iPhone where most configuration decisions are made for the user). Smaller companies with limited resources can struggle with CMiC both with the expense and configuration.

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We've run Global Shop Solutions ERP in several different business models and all of them have worked well. Repair: this is primarily customer supplied material, always new situations that are assessed AFTER the product arrives. Job Shop: These jobs are less guesswork, but still different every time. Engineering BOM's: These are a lot of assembly, less machining, but a huge amount of work in setting up the BOM's. Repeat Jobs: There are slight variations, but the overall process remains the same for all parts. In all 4 business situations Global Shop Solutions ERP has been able to meet the need, albeit differently. This is the strongest indicator that Global Shop Solutions ERP will work in MOST situations. Their flexibility makes everything possible.

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For a small to mid-size business, MS Dynamics SL is effective. We are capable of managing our finances with a very low risk of error. We have worked with MS Dynamics for almost 15 years and have more than doubled the size of our business in that time with very few issues from the program. We have exponentially increased our revenue and reporting demands and have found SL to be very dependable and stable. The program does have the occasional glitch and those are sometimes outside of the realm of expertise of our IT department. SL support is excellent, but their timeliness is not as urgent as ours.

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• The user interface is similar to that of other project management software applications so folks in our company that had previously used other applications have been able to switch over fairly easily.
• I really like the software and it was much less expensive than other applications.
• I like the mobile application so that our superintendents can view the documentation on their phones.
• I really like the punch list capability mobile field, however, we have a hard time getting our superintendents to use it for some reason.

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• The fact that it is always live and updating constantly is very helpful to our processes.
• The cross-module integration is seamless, allowing for what has been done in one department to populate into the fields of another screen quickly.
• I cannot say enough about the support team both through the 800 number and through our CI Manager, and the weekly "Friday Features" learning opportunities. If you don't learn the system it is because you have not put forth any effort whatsoever.

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• Provides flexibility for complex project based cost accounting
• Strong and flexible allocation processer for cost allocations, markups, and pricing
• A "Flexible Billing" module under the project controller series that allows for multiple billing formats ranging from fixed price schedule of values, T&M or Cost Plus, and scheduled billing.
• Flexible reporting with options using Crystal Reports, SSRS, a Quick Query tool, and ability to tie into MS Office tools such as MS Access and MS Excel
• Tight integration with Financials, but also the ability to integrate with modules such as Sales Order, Inventory, and Field Service
• Customization abilities ranging from a VBA (visual basic for application) foundation to allow customizing existing forms to the ability to use the SDK (Software Development Kit) to build more complex customizations that integrate with Dynamics SL.

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• Needs to be more user friendly on the mobile side of the platform. Ease of use is key here.
• There is not much instruction or support in standing up some programs like deploying ECM for outlook, making Collaboration Gateway work, or setting up the system for getting Plans available on the mobile devices.
• Security configuration is extremely detailed and spread throughout the system. It is extremely hard to make adjustments to a person's security unless you know exactly where to look, which requires years of experience but shouldn't.

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• When releasing new screens, they are not complete and you end up using the legacy screens instead of fully integrating to a new screen
• when they release hot patches, we usually end up with more things to fix and were fixed in the hot patch.

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• Reporting in the Project module is lacking functionality. I understand that most companies have specific needs when it comes to tracking project information but the standard reports are not good.
• I would recommend a product like Management Reporter that is for Projects only. Project Reporter should allow users to pull in all Project related data into reports.
• Fixing suspended batches. Obviously all of us users have experienced this mess. SL knows what needs to be corrected and there could be some step by step fixes in a separate repair module to do the steps we do in Query Analyzer.

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This is a platform that would continue to be in the best interest for our company. I just hope that CMiC support removes the gaps between the enhancements that they create to better the system to what they currently have

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Unfortunately, Dynamics' lack of ability to smoothly integrate with our CRM system is causing us to look at other solutions. The efficiencies that we gain by using Dynamics for our day to day accounting are lost in the constant headaches of getting sales quotes to import properly into the system for invoicing. Another major issue for us has been budgeting and reporting. We currently do all of our budgeting and board reporting in Excel, which is too time consuming and inefficient, especially when a system as robust as Dynamics should easily be able to handle this relatively simple task.

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I believe it isn't easy to use and is unintuitive. Undecipherable error messages appear throughout the application without indicating what is wrong or how to correct it, in my experience. The terminology on the screens is specific to Canada, which adds to the confusion.

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Still a bit clunky from the DOS days. It is always improving and has done so a lot recently but I still feel like the origins of the software weigh down the user experience when compared to software that employ more modern drag and drop, windows type cut and paste functions, or other Windows features that old DOS systems do not enjoy. The tip off for that is just how critical smart keys are in helping a user get through the screens.

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I rate it a 10 because we have removed the fields we don't need so users can really crank the data into the system. The software was designed for the professional services firm in mind but does a tremendous job for construction firms and "blended" companies that are both distribution firms but project centric as well. Perhaps they drop ship inventory to a project where their employees or subs need to work on a project for example.

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Sometimes since this is a cloud based product the system can become slow but we haven’t had any issues of availability without CMiC first letting us know it would be down

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We have had only one unplanned outage for 2 hours in the last 30 months. We shut down for 30 min to 1 hour once a month, but that is for Microsoft OS updates to the servers. Being a 24/7 world wide operation, the reliability is really important. We do get an 8 hour window on the weekend that we can be down for a short period to install Microsoft Dynamics SL updates, but we do not have many of those. On our last version upgrade, we shut the users out at 9:30 am and were fully operational in less than 6 hours. The upgrade was New SQL server, New SL server and 2 new Citrix servers.

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Reports are pretty shown to run but general pages typically load pretty quick.

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The support team [has] been in touch with our deployment team and has given them effective guidance up to completion. It has helped us in [the] best methods of resource allocation and secure record-keeping process. We have tracked all our billing information and made the right payments with documentation and avoided [unnecessary losses]. [The] support team has [to] lead our teams to the right channels and empowering our team with the right skills for maximum production.

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While I'm able to handle most service questions from my users, if I'm not available, calling GSS is typically a 10-15 minute call and the problem is solved for them. I am a super user of GSS because I'm the ERP manager and I have been using it for over 10 years. With that said, if I reach out to service, it's a BIG problem. I appreciate that even in those instances GSS is quick to grab data and get me off the phone to research it on their own. If it's a problem stopping work, they're all hands on deck to get us back running, but in most instances, I don't need that. I need them to investigate, find a fix, and get back to me while I'm able to keep working on other things. They are very good at not wasting my time and for that, I really appreciate them.

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Support is only used when needed, so unfortunately ,they get all the odd issues. It's a difficult business, but Microsoft and our firm do a great job of meeting customer needs. We get routine feedback that our support services are very good.

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The training was on system functions and not really how best to use it for our business. It would have been nice to be provided recommendations for use rather than just a blank slate of functionality.

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I felt the training was good and the trainers knew the software.

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Lots of confusion between sales and implementation regarding what was included and not included...the security encountered a "bug" and made it extremely difficult to set up roles and individual responsibilities

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Just to let it take its course. The implementation for me once I became a part of my former organization was pretty seamless. Just get to know the basics and call the support team to ask questions if you need help on an issue, should they arise. They are ready, willing, and able to help!

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CMiC Construction Platform is the best price point in the market. Others are revenue-based billings, and the annual fees reflect as such. CMiC Construction Platform support staff is generally amazing and offers real-time support on critical issues. The imaging and workflow functions are real-time savers. CMiC Construction Platform is generally a smaller and in touch organization that treats your team like their own and stays with you after the purchase.

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We moved to Global Shop Solutions ERP from Visual. Even though the table structure in Visual was easier to learn, we gained a lot more visibility into things with Global Shop Solutions ERP. Visual was difficult to customize, you were required to use the consultant they assigned you, and anything not done by that contractor was not warrantied. With Global Shop Solutions ERP you have a ton of consultants to choose from, the pricing for them is very reasonable, and they are available readily. In our experience, Oracle was...horrible. I think if you have the need to take control of your ERP and be able to make changes on your own, Global Shop Solutions ERP is the only choice.

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Of the comparable mid-range ERP systems, Dynamics SL competes at the lower end based on price, but also above the high-end based on flexibility, data, and reporting. Being able to stay with the same core accounting from a $100 million dollar company to a $3 billion dollar company shows the range of capabilities.

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CMiC has several key features that can either work together or independently depending on your companies needs.

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Since the backbone of the database is MS SQLServer, the database can be easily scaled.

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• Better project visibility, surely. I can step into a former project and see how well/poorly it was run.
• Forecasting underway - nearly complete with year 2.
• Cost status tracking - this has been valuable, especially when figuring out how much of a liquid budget is left over.

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• See instantly all information for part number, sales history, customer info, makes phone calls easy instead of having to say, let me look into that and get back to you
• Save money on purchasing goods, see history, now inventory levels, helps make sure we don't run out of items

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• More time is spent on manipulating reports which can and should be automated.
• Lack of electronic invoicing process and other green technology features creates more cost on printing and storage costs.
• The lack of a user friendly interface requires more training and a bigger learning curve for staff.

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