Bateleur Financial Solutions` commitment to delivering solutions and establishing long-standing partnerships with customers has certainly paid off at Business Partners Limited - where a relatively minor assignment four years ago has evolved to the point where Business Partners now relies on the Bateleur Holdings subsidiary for the majority of its financial application needs.
As Business Partners` (formerly Small Business Development Corporation) IT Manager, Ben Bierman, recalls, Bateleur Financial Solutions was called upon back in 1996 to support the Walker Financial Systems package, for which Bateleur held the agency.
"Hardly the type of assignment that would get the tills ringing.and yet Bateleur Financial Solutions displayed the type of approach to service and partnership building that could but impress all at Business Partners. From that early contact, the relationship has evolved into a genuine business partnership, where Bateleur Financial Solutions is a strategic ally, providing expert advice, seeing to technical support, and assisting with various projects," said Ben Bierman.
Bateleur Financial Solutions` experience with the Adabas/Natural environment was crucial to the successful running of Business Partners` Walker application on its existing database. Here, Bateleur Holdings director, Donald Abbot, took a `hands-on` approach and created a tailored `bridge` for the new Walker suite of products. This allowed the products to operate with the currently installed database architecture which, in turn, resulted in an extremely cost-effective solution. Indeed, the `bridge` functionality now forms an important option for many other companies that deploy the Walker system and run on Adabas.
Bateleur Financial Solutions was also involved in the implementation of the Accounts Payable module in the Business Partners Ltd environment. This facilitated the centralisation of the company`s five accounting units, an initiative expected to deliver a substantial future operational expense saving in the region of R2-million.
"While the flexibility of the Walker system suited our requirements, there is no doubt that a successful implementation is dependent on how the rich functionality is structured to meet the requirements. Bateleur Financial Solutions` consultants, Lizette Sander and Deirdre Stoop, are the experts, they have done it before.and at Business Partners, they certainly worked tirelessly to customise the application and ensure that it performed precisely the way we wanted it to. After all, we don`t want to change the way we do business to suit the application. It`s got to be the other way around. And with Bateleur Financial Solutions, that`s the way it has been - from day one," Ben Bierman explained.
Other successful projects undertaken in partnership with Bateleur Financial Solutions include the implementation of an Asset Management module to replace a previously used application, and the reconfiguration of the General Ledger module.
But it has been more than just a technical relationship. Bateleur Financial Solutions has, over the four years, established a reputation for providing added-value expert advice on how to best use and utilise the Walker components. At the same time, Business Partners has enjoyed access to the skills and expertise of the greater Bateleur Holdings group.
As Business Partners` Walker administrator, Nadia Bosch, puts it: "Various issues are competently and holistically addressed - regardless of whether it is application, database or operating system related.
"Indeed, so comprehensive has Bateleur`s `beyond-the-call-of-duty` approach been that we have, for the first time ever, allowed an outside company - Bateleur Financial Solutions - to remotely and independently gain access to our installation to assist with modifications and fine turning. That`s a pretty good indication of the level of trust that exists right now!"
For Business Partners it is this degree of involvement that defines the relationship with Bateleur. It is not so much about the product, it is more about the people, and the nurturing of the long-standing relationship.
It`s about Bateleur truly understanding the dynamics of Business Partners` business, understanding the business cycles under which the company operates, and applying their considerable skills to accommodate Business Partners` application requirrements.
"Bateleur Financial Solutions is a company that offers a consistent, quality service that translates into time, money and resource savings. That`s the bottom line. And that`s the reason why the members of the Bateleur team are today much more than just suppliers. They are true - and valued - strategic partners," Ben Bierman concluded.
Share