Microsoft Great Plains allows Informatics Malaysia to make informed business decisions

Established in 1984, Informatics Malaysia is a leading provider of information and communication technology-related training programs in the country. As a private educational operation, the capture of student information for subsequent billing is of paramount importance. Their previous system required the headquarters to manually consolidate information, causing delays and inaccuracy as well as taking too much time; financial reports were similarly time consuming to create and not real-time. Informatics selected Microsoft Business Solutions—Great Plains to enable single point of entry of information and easy and fast reporting as well as lowering their IT costs.

Established in 1984, Informatics Malaysia is a leading provider of information and communication technology-related training programs in the country. The programs are delivered via a network of 20 CitiCampuses—the largest in Malaysia—and range from certificate- to degree-level courses in computer studies, business IT, information technology, computer engineering, electrical & electronic engineering, computer technology and network technology.

Through its five affiliated IAHE/Sarjana Centres, Informatics Malaysia also offers business programs including postgraduate business administration programs. Another subsidiary, Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) Centres, offers broad-based IT programs to the lay community, with specialisation in IT education for children. Informatics Malaysia is part of the publicly listed Informatics Group headquartered in Singapore, which operates a global network of over 400 training and education centres in more than 33 countries.

Recipe for a busy finance department
Here’s a recipe for a very busy finance department: 1) Take information from 20 training centres and affiliates and subsidiaries spread across the country, 2) Quickly consolidate the information and knead it into a meaningful form, 3) Report massaged information to the training centres, affiliates and subsidiaries, the local management team and a publicly listed parent company based in another country. That’s how things were at the finance department of Informatics Malaysia. As their operational processes grew more complex, it became more important for each department to be able to provide the business units with meaningful financial information in a timely fashion.



Thankfully, all that is now history for Informatics Malaysia, for it has upgraded to Microsoft Business Solutions—Great Plains with the help of the Malaysian arm of systems integrator Eclipse Computing, a Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner. “We realized that we needed a financial solution that would increase the efficiency and productivity and improve job turnaround time. We looked around for the best software solution for our needs and found it in Microsoft Business Solutions—Great Plains,” said Lee Keat Han, Finance Manager, Informatics Malaysia

Microsoft Great Plains speeds information flow
Completed mid-2001, the upgrade to Microsoft Great Plains has significantly smoothened and accelerated the processing and delivery of financial information within the Malaysian group and to the international group office in Singapore. Being Microsoft Windows-based, Microsoft Great Plains is compatible with popular desktop Microsoft applications like Excel. This enables data files in Microsoft Excel format to be sent to and from the finance department and the CitiCampuses via email on Informatics Malaysia’s intranet.

“With the earlier version, data from the centres had to be keyed in at the finance department and reports had to be printed by the department and sent to the centres by fax, post and courier. Now, with Microsoft Great Plains, data re-entry has been eliminated and the department can compile our accounts and generate the necessary reports in about half the time it used to take,” said Ms Lee.

Informatics staff have found that Microsoft Great Plains is user-friendly and easy to learn. The comprehensive training provided by Eclipse Computing gave the 16 users in the finance department a very clear understanding of the solution. The collaborative features in Microsoft Great Plains also enable Informatics’ executives to share knowledge and this has resulted in improved decision-making processes within the company, she added.

Previously, the consolidation of group accounts and electronic banking were performed using two separate IT systems. An additional benefit they have realised is that Microsoft Great Plains, which seamlessly integrates with software that includes these functions, has allowed Informatics Malaysia to retire these systems, resulting in lower IT management and maintenance costs.

Looking to the future, Informatics Malaysia plans to soon add 10 more CitiCampuses and customer service centres, and the scalability Microsoft Business Solutions—Great Plains ensures that the system will be capable of supporting this growth plan.

Customer Profile
Established in 1984, Informatics Malaysia is a leading provider of information and communication technology-related training programs in the country with over 25 locations.

Business Situation
Informatics was previously receiving information from all of their locations in many different forms and re-entering it at the headquarters, this led to much duplication, inaccuracy, and reports were typically slow and out of date. As business grew, this system became unmanageable.

Solution
Microsoft® Business Solutions—Great Plains®

• General Ledger with FRx Advance
• Fixed Asset Management
• Receivable Management
• Bank Reconciliation
• Multi-Dimensional Analysis
• Inter-Company Processing Report Writer
• e-View and Explorer

Benefits

• Ease of use
• Fast reporting and consolidation
• Pervasive access to support resources
• Lower IT management costs
• Scalability as additional locations are added

Software and Services:

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
• Microsoft SQL Server 2000

“We are confident that the choice of the Microsoft Great Plains system, preferred by blue-chip companies the world over, is a splendid investment that will bring tremendous returns for the company.”

“Now, with Microsoft Great Plains, data re-entry has been eliminated and the department can compile our accounts and generate the necessary reports in about half the time it used to take.”
Lee Keat Han, Finance Manager, Informatics Malaysia