This is an edited transcript of an interview with Alison Forsythe, practice manager at landscape architects Randall Thorp, conducted by a business analyst on behalf of Noveos in May 2011.
(Analyst) What practice management systems were you using before you implemented Noveos, and what were the concerns?
(Alison Forsythe) “We had a
mix of manual timesheets and other timesheet
software.
One person was then responsible for inputting and
collating all the data on projects.
The whole system was very cumbersome, and the software clumsy to use, which is why we did not train staff to use the old software for timesheet entries. We had to do a lot of “massaging” of data just to arrive at basic information. Getting any meaningful financial reporting straight out of the system was almost impossible”.
(A) How did you know Noveos was right for the practice?
(AF) “We decided to run a 3-month trial in parallel, i.e., entering the same information into our old setup and into Noveos. In fact, we stopped the trial early because we were already comfortable with Noveos after just 2 months”.
(A) What was the effect of introducing Noveos?
(AF) “Besides the efficiency of invoicing procedures, we can instantly break down jobs in detail and get a current position at any time, so for example, we get early warning of possible over-run of costs. The old reporting system was inflexible and very slow to run”.
(A) Did Noveos have any effect on client-facing work?
(AF) “We now have proper financial analysis which has improved the accuracy of our fee proposals. Referring to detailed history on Noveos tells us how much time was spent on drawing, how much on actual planning, etc., so that we have confidence we’re protecting project profitability”.
(A) What was involved in the set-up and changeover to the Noveos system?
(AF) “We decided just to lay out first on paper what we would introduce over time, so that we could take advantage of all the Noveos options in a manageable way, e.g., we decided that we would only load up the active and most recent project history into Noveos. Anything further back than that has stayed in our old system”.
(A) How do you feel about the timing of implementing Noveos in terms of the evolution of the practice?
(AF) “I wish we’d done it sooner. It really does repay the time spent to set it up for the best return. I’d say don’t be daunted by the range of options – Noveos has broad scope on purpose, and not everybody needs absolutely everything it does, and you don’t have to use all of the features on the first day”.