The Partner Channel Magazine Winter 2016

HEADQUARTERS
Waupaca, Wisconsin
PHONE
800-834-7700
ESTABLISHED
1984
“”
“With the expertise of Innovia Consulting and the capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, we’ve continued
to be very competitive in the market while saving a huge amount of operational costs by automating
our business. We couldn’t have done it without their guidance and owe much of our continued success to the
Innovia Consulting team.”
– Mary Lowe, vice president of finance, Lowe Manufacturing Company
1984. Back then, computers were hip and cool, and today, the word
“computer” is dated. When people saw the name, ABC Computers,
it didn’t represent what we wanted them to think and feel about our
company.
With the rebrand, we want to convey innovation and
confidence. We strive to be and continue to be people Users can
depend on, and the new name and brand portray that much better
than before.
TPC: You spoke on a panel at our PreGAME to Summit session
about VAR and ISV relationships. I think everyone in that room
agreed that you had some important aspects figured out. Can you
share any of those best-practice tips with our readers?
TD: It needs to be a partnership with the end customer in mind.
Anything we do, we first put it through the customers’ lens to
get a feel for what they think about it. Customers depend on us
to bring solutions to solve their business issues. The best way to
help our customers is to bring ISVs in as a PARTNER, not as a
vendor, to answer the question, “How can we each help our mutual
customers?”. When we approach it as a collaborative effort, we
see a lot more success, and customers are happier with the end
solution.
TPC: Did you experience any “aha” moments from being a part
of that session?
TD: I was very surprised to hear that more Partners aren’t working
with ISVs like we do. We have a core group of ISVs that work best for
our customer base and communicate regularly with them. It’s worked
so well for us; I was surprised to hear that Partners could do it any
other way.
TPC: Does Innovia work well in one specific industry?
TD: We work heavily in manufacturing and a fair amount in
distribution. We are targeting a new vertical that’s directed to power
sports dealers who sell ATVs or snowmobiles, that sort of thing.
TPC: What’s next for Innovia in 2016 and beyond?
TD: Microsoft’s direction is clear for us to focus vertically. In 2016,
we’re going to spend a lot of time and energy going out to the
broader market for the power sports industry. We’ll be attending and
sponsoring two major conferences offering up a strong promotion
that allows Users to try before they buy. We’ve focused immensely on
reducing the risk for customers to make a decision to move forward.
The first 25 dealers that sign up with us get Microsoft Dynamics
NAV at zero cost for six months, and that includes no service fees.
TPC: Why that amount of time?
TD: You see a lot of 60-day or 90-day trials, and that’s just not long
enough for Users to get comfortable with the solution. We believe that
ERP adoption happens after the six-month mark. At that point, they’re
used to it, they like it, and they are comfortable with moving forward.
TPC: Anything else you want to share with our readers about
making big changes as a company?
TD: We are undergoing a lot of change lately. In addition to the
rebrand, we’ve really ramped up our staff, seeing about 40 percent
growth over the past three years. We’re now at 53 employees and
growing. We find it’s very difficult to offer successful implementations
when we don’t have dedicated support people and onsite teams that
can handle the volume. Having a team of more than 50 people helps
make us a more sustainable and successful Partner.
THEPARTNERCHANNEL.COM | WINTER 2016 27