Infor CloudSuite ERP vs. Microsoft Dynamics SL

We have had great success with inventory management and production planning/execution. Also, data and system integrity have been key to our overall solution satisfaction. We struggle when it comes to reporting and analytics. The base product leaves room for improvement as much of the core reporting is not easily configurable and lacks the ability to scale forcing us to build a reporting model outside the solution

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

• Very stable product. Some of its weaknesses are also its strengths. The lack of web services seems to actually increase stability.
• No software vendor in this space is perfect. Lawson does perform as advertised.
• Again, a weakness of this (limited functionality) is a hidden strength as well. In software there is a complexity/feature tradeoff. Where Lawson lacks in features, it does give you a more simple setup for your organization.

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• Trying to locate forms that you haven't used before is not very user friendly
• overall view and navigation is very old style and could use an update
• Reports are built in and not very customizable, could also use an easy report reference guide.

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

Other than the inherent pain of a new implementation, it's a great platform and Infor is a great partner to work with. Every system has problems, our are no worse than any other platform. Maybe even a little better, nothing to make us want to change platforms any time in the near future

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

Industry fit: Infor M3 is designed for specific industries, such as manufacturing, distribution, and food and beverage. If your organization operates in one of these industries, Infor M3 may be a good fit.Functionality: Consider the specific features and functionality that your organization requires from an ERP system, such as financial management, supply chain management, manufacturing, and sales and marketing. Review Infor M3's capabilities in these areas to determine if it meets your needs.

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.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

The overall support of Inform M3 is simply the best! There isn't a single flaw that I can detect or think of about this software! I can't possibly express the greatness of the availability and all of the possibilities achieved. The ease of use and a lot of functionalities such as flexibility [allows in] configuration to add new functionalities fast.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

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!

Incentivized

One of the products I have used is an Oracle accounting product. I feel that Infor stands up well when comparing to the Oracle product especially for the accounting functions. In comparing it to Microsoft Dynamics I feel that Infor is easier to use in some accounting tasks. The one thing the Dynamics has going for it is the ease of use with other Microsoft Products.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

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

Incentivized

• we have a much better inventory tracking therefore able to meet the requirements coming fmor o2c
• order handling is smoother since we have almost visual control over it
• the different GAAPs can be included - like US. and locals (great for statutory reporting)

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized