Why IFS choose partners and should you too?

Remember when…

Back in 2014, we had the ice-bucket challenge and Brazil hosting the world cup? Well among these highlights, IFS UK&I introduced the IFS Partner Programme. The idea was to provide customers with an IFS approved network of suppliers, creating greater customer choice, flexibility and to instill confidence in a partner’s expertise.

If you bought IFS Applications before 2018, chances are you dealt solely with IFS…well kind of. You may have been passed to a partner or more likely you had the solution implemented by an IFS team comprising of vendor and partner consultants.

And into the ‘new world’?

Initially it didn’t go exactly as planned in 2014 and has evolved into more of a commitment to IFS’s long-term objectives rather than a shared enterprise. However, it did identify which companies were committed to the IFS platform and achieved an expansion to a variety of partner-led services, which continues to grow today. The following covers mainly the UK, but I am sure some areas will apply to many other countries too.

More than IFS friends

Generally, partners can do more than you might expect, providing a myriad of services including;

• Formal functional and technical support packages with SLA’s
• Upgrade processes including script running, B&V and technical fixes
• Modification/Customisation development and support
• And much more…

For example, many people reading this will be considering IFS Cloud upgrades – did you know that some partners have the capacity to run the entire upgrade (in what is known as Partner Prime)?

This means an IFS partner can fully conduct the early stage known as ‘Build & Validate’ (‘B&V’), which alone can take several months to complete. The benefit of is a reduced queue-time for initiating the B&V stage, which can traditionally be well over 3 months. For example, by nurturing a large permanent team, Anthesis typically gets this down to a 5-week lead time for B&V initiation.

But how do I choose?

When picking a partner for something like a technical IFS upgrade, you need to ask about: –

• Their systems engineering team (size, areas of skill expertise, time-zones etc.)
• Current projects/deadlines/future scheduled work – what’s their capacity?
• Their breadth of service portfolio – how much can they complete internally, or will they need to outsource certain stages – will that cause delays?

Top Tip: The ability to have your partner run the entire B&V stage in-house will accelerate your project and keep you closer to progress updates.

Some partners are also specialists in reviewing your current IFS implementation. This can lead to the identification of strategic short and long-term wins (and therefore any upgrade benefits) to help squeeze every penny from your IFS licenses.

Over 10 years of IFS partnership

Anthesis has grown its team to match the evolving breadth of IFS and now stands with 48 IFS-focused delivery staff and access to over 100 independent consultants.

Selecting a dependable partner that has a range of experience, and a skilled team can make the difference between fighting with your ERP system and loving your ERP system. This latter approach can lead to the rapid delivery of a multitude of benefits such as; improved data for operations, less time pressures, enhanced resource management and overall cost reductions.

Many customers have found that having a dedicated IFS Partner, enables them to fully leverage IFS Applications, to maximize its value bringing several benefits to their businesses.

Next steps

Get in touch and see how we can also support you, from IFS optimisation to a full-on upgrade or implementation!

At Anthesis, we do not sell third-party IFS add-ins (except Value added service – Making Tax Digital) so you can be sure we will use every hour of our time to release the value from your enterprise applications.

Contact us to find out a bit more!