Government IT Contractor Shows Force Is With Microsoft Dynamics NAV

REDMOND, Wash. — Nov. 4, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that Force 3 Inc., a leading IT solutions provider to the federal government and other organizations, has selected Microsoft Dynamics NAV to integrate and streamline its project accounting and financial management operations, manage its fast-growing business, and handle the stringent compliance obligations it faces as a government contractor.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is a versatile, cost-effective and quick-to-set-up enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that enables mid-sized companies to grow their business, fuel productivity and meet their industry-specific needs.

Crofton, Md.-based Force 3 chose Microsoft Dynamics NAV as one of the only ERP systems capable of integrating its disparate operations into a single business management solution. Force 3’s operations span product sales, such as the networking gear and other hardware it sells to customers, and services, including the value-add customization, deployment, system integration and maintenance its skilled engineers provide at client sites.

Force 3 has performed network design and installation for hundreds of U.S. government agencies and private businesses, including more than 150 U.S. military hospitals worldwide. The company ranks as one of America’s largest minority-owned small businesses that is pre-approved as a government contractor.

In its federal government business, Force 3 must furnish Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) auditors with extensive documentation and reports to meet the rigorous auditing requirements that government contractors face when servicing U.S. government agencies. Microsoft Dynamics NAV demonstrated its ability to amply meet these critical requirements of doing business with federal government clients.

Force 3 also liked the fact that Microsoft Dynamics NAV is tightly integrated with its existing Microsoft systems, including Microsoft Office. This enables Force 3 to get its employees up and running quickly with minimal training and support, and to protect and extend the company’s IT investments.

The solution, to be implemented by Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Pleasant Valley Business Solutions LLC (PVBS), replaces a myriad of incompatible systems that lacked the capabilities Force 3 needed to take its business to the next level.

PVBS specializes in serving fast-growing government contractors and has adapted Microsoft Dynamics NAV to meet the unique needs of these businesses.

“We evaluated several options, and Microsoft Dynamics NAV demonstrated the unique ability to consolidate our product sales and professional services operations into a unitary, easy-to-manage system with the transparency and reporting capabilities we need to satisfy our auditing requirements as a supplier to the federal government,” said Debbie Carr, senior vice president of Accounting at Force 3. “Microsoft Dynamics NAV positions us for continued growth and enables us to run a tight ship in the competitive, cost-conscious markets we do business in.”

Force 3 expects Microsoft Dynamics NAV to deliver across-the-board business benefits that will give it precious competitive advantage, including these:

  • Improved data accuracy, transparency and reporting capabilities. Microsoft Dynamics NAV will enable Force 3 to keep a tight rein on the auditing requirements it faces, including the ability to open up its books on request to DCAA auditors, with the assurance that all necessary information has been accurately logged, and produce specific records and reports that they may ask for, as well as meet strict data formatting standards.

  • Seamless, cross-company integration. Microsoft Dynamics NAV will replace multiple existing systems that didn’t talk to each other, thus requiring Force 3 employees to enter data manually to keep systems updated. The new solution will enable the company to merge the management of its products and services businesses into a single system and cut out these manual processes. The company will be able to integrate and automate its business processes from end to end — from responding to government tenders and delivering customer quotes to placing hardware orders with OEMs, sending out customer invoices, and tracking allocation of time and materials. Meanwhile, the seamless integration between Microsoft Dynamics NAV and the other Microsoft solutions that Force 3 uses will enable the company to easily import data from these systems to further enrich decision-making. Force 3 expects the overall integration that Microsoft Dynamics NAV will deliver to yield considerable efficiencies and cost savings.

  • Business intelligence and decision support. Thanks to embedded business analytics capabilities enabled by Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Dynamics NAV will furnish Force 3 executives with access to a matrix of key performance variables, such as revenue or profit margin, broken out by customer, sales representative, contract vehicle or vendor, among other measures. This will allow them to monitor how different parts of the business are tracking against strategic objectives and overall goals. Employees also will be able to drill down into data to generate deeper business insight. Overall, Force 3 expects the ability to quickly and efficiently locate key data to drive smart decision-making and fuel productivity.

  • Simplification. With Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Force 3 employees will be able to manage contract information as well as purchase and sales orders in a single environment, eliminating the need to switch between different systems to gather such data.

  • Supply chain management. Force 3 expects that Microsoft Dynamics NAV will enable it to communicate, collaborate and exchange data with its suppliers more effectively than is possible using its current systems through improved integration with a vendor’s systems, no matter which one a trading partner is using.

  • Growing revenue and serving customers. Microsoft Dynamics NAV’s customer relationship management modules will enable Force 3 employees to look up all previous interactions with customers and use this data to inform and identify up-selling and cross-selling opportunities.

  • Reduced IT support and maintenance. Consolidating management of its product sales and service businesses within a single solution, instead of having these functions dispersed across multiple systems, will reduce Force 3’s overhead for IT management and administration.

“Microsoft Dynamics NAV is an attractive proposition for government contractors because of its streamlined business management capabilities providing them with clear visibility into their data and operations and ultimately setting them up for success in this fast-growing market,” said Michael Park, corporate vice president for the U.S. Small and Midmarket Solutions & Partners Group at Microsoft. “Businesses also appreciate that Microsoft Dynamics NAV easily slots into place alongside their existing IT systems and replicates the familiar look of other Microsoft software, so employees can get operational quickly and painlessly.”

About Force 3 Inc.

Force 3, Inc. offers innovative technology solutions that improve productivity, reduce costs and enhance the way clients conduct business in the government, commercial and healthcare markets. Force 3 employs industry experts to ensure dynamic and effective solutions including system design, deployment and management, hardware procurement, professional services and project management. Force 3 is one of Cisco’s top five federal Gold Partners in America and was named the Cisco Federal Security Partner of the Year in 2006 and 2007. For more information, go to http://www.force3.com.

About Pleasant Valley Business Solutions (PVBS)

Pleasant Valley Business Solutions (PVBS), a “Microsoft Business Solutions President’s Club Member 2007,” offers the Microsoft alternative for government contractor ERP, financial management and project accounting. Microsoft offers a better project accounting and financial management solution than what’s been available in the past to high-growth government contractors. Only PVBS offers a Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution that was created specifically for high-growth government contractors, to help these companies better manage and maximize their Federal Government business. PVBS is based in Reston, VA. Visit PBVS at www.pvbs.net.

About Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics is a line of financial, customer relationship and supply chain management solutions that helps businesses work more effectively. Delivered through a network of channel partners providing specialized services, these integrated, adaptable business management solutions work like and with familiar Microsoft software to streamline processes across an entire business.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

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