IFS Applications vs. Unit4 Enterprise Resource Planning

Order to cash processes and scenario are implemented natively in IFS. An HR module exists for career management also (objectives, comportments, training, mobility) but may be improved in terms of workflow validation (e.g. training to validate by a manager) or reporting.

Incentivized

Unit4 is good for small and mid-level companies where they need a single platform to manage their functionality.

• Accounting
• Finance
• Complex Inventory

• Since the software is built with your needs in mind, it can be tailored to your specific needs.
• System security is also created with your specific needs in mind and can be extremely detailed for various roles within the organization.
• The various modules integrate well, if thought through system processes when building.

Incentivized

• The speed of bug fixes should be improved by the IFS after sales teams. We saw the difference of responsiveness prior to Go Live and after Go Live, with a change of teams. IFS France is working on that point, and strategically wants to innovate by acting now with two other third-party companies in early 2017, to improve the after sales experience for customers.
• There is no license model between the full licenses, which gives access to all IFS features, and the light licenses, to get access to a specific module like expense sheet. As a consequence, you must acquire a full access license for one team working only with a dedicated module (e.g. general ledger). Maybe an intermediate type license would be welcome to balance the budget. IFS tries to make prices competitive but you have to consider full upgrades of the product too, where requiring full licenses can be hard on the budget.
• When you have an Active Directory ecosystem with a trust relationship, users from domain B can't natively access IFS, even if AD sync is in place with domain A. It's important to improve that functionality because many companies have a merge and acquisition context, with SOX constraints sometimes, and avoiding maintaining contacts or local accounts simplifies SOX compliance, or to management of accounts within the company.

Incentivized

• Their layout and limited web capabilities are a turn-off
• They lack basic functionality in their web [version]
• The implementation phase is bumpy since their guides and process documents are not step by step and are usually confusing

Incentivized

The system is very difficult to use, overly complex, and difficult to learn. It also has limitations that are hard to overcome.

Unit4 is very easy to use. One can use it without much technical knowledge.

We have been unable to get answers to our questions, solutions to our problems, and they don't seem interested in working in the construction industry.

Their consultant and support service is also very responsive.

Microsoft AX, QAD (in continuation of our previous ERP), Sage X3 was an out of the box ERP that was part of initial RFP. We have chosen IFS based on the compromise between costs & budget, functionality, technical features, and feedback from similar customers that gave their feedback. The project manager team and qualification level of technical or consultant teams were differentiating factors too. Finally IFS application was named in the Gartner’s mid-market ERP Magic Quadrant, along with SAP, and helped us to finalize our choice

Incentivized

I have used Fund EZ and QuickBooks. Unit4 is for larger organizations and was needed for our scaling.

Incentivized

• Reporting is now centralized and managed. Previously, reports were outside the information systems and there was a risk of incoherence.
• Accounting controls are now in place on the overall processes, including production, which helped the company to reduce closing periods or to produce more easily official mandatory accounting files yearly.
• Interfaces between the CRM forecast tool and IFS helped to keep the tools in sync, and to decrease the processing times prior to production launch.

Incentivized

• Our business processes were in flux when the initial build of our system was taking place - this made lives very difficult. Make sure processes are set!
• Time - beyond what could have been imagined - this is a huge project, that needs proper resources assigned to it within a company when planning to install.

Incentivized