Crestwood Associates LLC
Powerful and Customized ERP Solutions for Your Business

CIOs often dread the nightmare of being lost amid several rows of cabinets looking for an important document. In such situations, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution can come to the rescue. But in the present ‘Information Age’ and with the data influx skyrocketing, many mid-sized businesses find themselves with data spread between systems, making reporting and analysis complex or even impossible. The reporting needs have transformed from simple balance sheet and trial balance reports to complex ‘intelligent’ reports that mine data and present multiple scenarios. Clients also have come to expect up-to-the-minute information and real-time support to make better business-critical decisions. To meet these needs, “Crestwood has created a very strong integration and customization practice. We expand upon the ERP implementation space and ‘personalize’ the client environment to fit their unique needs,” states William Schroeder, Director of Development Services for Crestwood Associates. According to Schroeder, “Crestwood has also added a suite of BI tools and services to accommodate the increased demand for insights into Key Performance Indicators which have been well received by our clients.”

The company recommends a complete solution to its clients, including ERP, CRM, reporting, integration, training, and support. “Based on client requirements, we recommend from a breadth of cloud services within our solution set, including Acumatica, Greentree, Microsoft Dynamics, and Office 365,” explains Schroeder. The firm’s cloud ERP service delivery lifecycle starts with an in-depth Business Process Review where the opportunities for cloud solutions are identified.

“Crestwood has chosen a suite of ERP and CRM solutions that we feel best serves the mid-market and we invest in training so our resources are the best of the best. Additionally, our sales team does not sell, but instead they listen and educate our clients. We have created an environment where the best interests of each client are served, even if that means we do not get the sale.This model allows everyone, from the accounting staff to marketing through delivery, to focus on what is right for the client,” offered Schroeder.

Crestwood has added more BI tools and services to accommodate the demand from IT and the increased need of management to better understand their KPIs

One of the top ERP choices for mid-sized businesses is Microsoft Dynamics GP. This solution maximizes the customer’s investment, helps gain control over their financials, better manages their inventory and operations, and allows for informed decisions that drive business success. Crestwood has developed several add-on packages to extend the functionality of Dynamics GP to meet the needs of a broad audience of customers. Its Field Value Security module allows clients to lock down checkbook access by user so that sensitive data can be protected. Similarly, the Exchange Agent module is useful for clients with complex integrations that need source data from email attachments. Exchange Agent also helps users save attachments in a designated location, allowing the Extract Transform Load (ETL) tool of choice to access that data automatically with very little user input or involvement.

In one instance, Crestwood accelerated the Dynamics GP ecosystem for a North American automotive electronics parts distributor and enhanced their business model to augment the core inventory and distribution functionality.

Crestwood recently merged with Stanley Stuart Yoffee & Hendrix, a firm specializing in providing on-premise and cloud ERP and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solutions. The partnership leverages the Microsoft Dynamics and Acumatica expertise of both companies and allows Crestwood to grow their footprint in the strategic Florida market. Moving ahead, Crestwood plans to accelerate its cloud services and grow their stable of ERP and CRM add-on solutions. “Our cloud service offerings and add-on solutions will continue to be an area of laser-focus for us,” concludes Schroeder.