Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Reputed College drives information flow and productivity with Microsoft ERP Solution Solution
Overview
Country or region: India
Industry:Education
Customer Profile
Jayagovind Harigopal Agarwal Agarsen College offers various competitive courses to more than 1500 students. It is a non-profit institution that aims to provide the best academic prowess along with sports and extra curricular activities.
Business Situation
JHA Agarsen College totally relied upon manual data entry for all administrative tasks where as for finance and accounting, it used a FoxPro based application. Lack of real time online information resulted in integration issues, manual effort and time consumption.
Solution
With the help of MicrosoftCertified Partner,Firstware Software Solutions, JayagovindHarigopal Agarwal Agarsen College deployed Microsoft® Dynamics™ NAV 5.0 with SP1.
Benefits
World class technology
Streamlining of business processes
Timely access to information / “Through this ERP System deployed by Firstware Software Solutions, we are able to successfully implement E-governance which is most essential for the effective and systematic functioning of our institution. We appreciate and congratulate their patience in completing this project.”
B. Goverdhan Agarwal, Secretary cum Correspondent, Jayagovind Harigopal Agarwal Agarsen College
Established in 2000-2001 in Chennai, India, Jayagovind Harigopal Agarwal Agarsen Collegeis a unique college. It is a non – profit institution that aims to provide a well rounded education to needy and meritorious students. The existing FoxPro based application did not integrate the business processes and extensive manual efforts and manpower was deployed to fulfill the daily requirements of the college. With a strength of more than 1500 students, the daily tasks were becoming a challenge.The college thusimplemented Microsoft Dynamics NAV 5.0 under the able guidance of Microsoft® Certified partner, Firstware Software Solutions. The solution integrates all the departments, administrative tasks and business processes, thus saving time and man power.
Situation
Jayagovind Harigopal Agarwal Agarsen College was established by the philanthropic Agarwal community in the academic year 2000 – 2001 at Madhavaram in Chennai, India. The college offers various competitive courses like B.Com., B.C.A., B.Sc., (ISM), B.Sc., (Computer Science), M.Com and M.Sc.,(IT). In addition to academic prowess, the college equally excels in sporting and extracurricular activities.
The college totally relied on manual entry across all functions except the Finance function, which used FoxPro to maintain all accounting and financial data. With the absence of online systems, information processing was laborious and time consuming, and business process integration was not a possibility.
Running a large institute using manual processes meant more staff on their rolls, delayed entries with the chances of error, no instant sharing of important information pertinent to other departments, complex manual calculations and outputs.
Solution
To overcome the exisiting issues of data integration, the IT team at JHA Agarsen College decided to go in for the latest technology in the form of ERP solutions. After thorough market research, the team finally chose Microsoft Dynamics NAV 5.0.
JHA Agarsen College chose to partner with Firstware to install their software called ‘Campus Dynamix’, specially designed to automate and integrate the business processes of an educational institution. Firstware Software Solutions is an ERP certified Microsoft NAV partner and service provider and have successfully implemented NAV in several institutions across the country and overseas. It understood the college’s requirements, which was basically a complete ERP package to operate and integrate all functions.
“Firstware’s demonstration to the college was clear and convincing in terms of time and money savings as well as error free and timely flow / access of information by all departments,” explains D. Saravanan, HR Manager, JHA Agarsen College.
Firstware started the implementation of Microsoft NAV 5 with Starter Pack 1 in Jan,2009. Implementation of all standard and customized modules and portal was completed within the span of one year. Training was provided to all end users. The modules deployed are Financial Management, Fixed Assets, Inventory Management and Purchase & Payables.
Firstware designed and developed software for the optimum and cost effective operation of various vital functions within the college, which was being done manually. All processes were integrated to eliminate time lag and provide real time information across departments. This customization was done using Campus Dynamix.
The student admission process was totally automated, requiring minimal data entry. The academics, which entailed the issue of various certificates, was designed for ready use. The other functions that were developed were Human Resources & Payroll, Fee Management, Library Management and Placement Cell.
Web portals were set up for the faculty (4 tier access), students as well as alumni. The faculty access is entirely controlled by an administrator, who assigns viewing and data entry rights to Management, Heads of Department and staff. The Management is able to view all data via the faculty portal, like attendance, mark sheets, time tables and other information. The Heads of Department are assigned entry as well as viewing and specifically, approval screens. The staff, who had been maintaining daily attendance and marks manually this far with the help of a printed excel sheet, were provided access to student attendance and mark entry into the automated system. Students have ready access to their attendance, marks, college circulars and communication as well as availability of library books. The alumni portal serves as a networking site for current and past students to upload their comments and pictures.
The college has awarded Firstware with the annual maintenance of its automated systems and processes.
Benefits
World Class Technology
Agarsen College has made the day to day running of its processes simple, error free and timely by offering world class technology based systems to its faculty and students. Web portals integrated with NAV allow access to important information even from outside the college campus.
“The ERP solution has helped us to access and view the status of various data like attendance, student performance and faculty movement. Today we are able to attend to our work without any disruption due to the accessibility of this system from anywhere to ensure all circulars and communication are accessible on time”
Dr.K.Duraipandian, Principal, JHK Agarsen College
The principal and management can make college circulars available online via internet facilitation, and can view the status of receipt. Students can view their attendance records, mark sheets, daily lectures schedules as well as reference book availability and reservation online. Faculty can upload attendance, marks and request auditorium bookings via the portal. Fee status can be viewed by management, faculty and students.
Streamlining of Business Processes
Business processes have been automated and where needed, integrated which has freed up resources and facilitated the generation of error free reports and effective time utilization.
The admission module is now automated and integrated with the Finance function, which means fee payment now entrails just a single point entry which generates fee statements and other student related billings from Finance.
The student application process manually required 5 counters manned by faculty to handle admissions. Automation of this function has made it possible for just one or two staff to handle student admissions.
Salaries used to be calculated against various parameters and processed manually, a function that used to take ten days to complete Bio – metric card installation and integration with NAV now allows salaries to be computed and processed in a couple of hours.
“The advantages of this ERP solution for us have been in terms of quick processing of salary due to technology oriented attendance in place. We have also gained an advantage during our peak admission season to process admissions at great speed with less manpower”
Mr.Saravanan, HR Manager, JHA Agarsen College
Timely Access to Information
Automation has led to single point entry of information, and integration of various functions allows relevant information access to all users. Important college information is simultaneously accessible by students and faculty alike. Students have access to daily lecture schedules, which allows them to decide on the sessions they need to attend. Students can view monthly attendance against minimum requirement, as well as their fee statements every month, and can take corrective action wherever required. Similarly, management and faculty can also view and take action as required.
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systemsthat your company already has implemented. By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship, and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes, and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success.
For more information about Microsoft Dynamics, go to:
About Firstware Software Solutions
Firstware Software Solutions was started in 1996 as the software division of the Brilliant Tutorials Group, a renowned name in India in fields ranging from skill building for competitive exams and high-end computer training to innovative management education. It is an SEI-CMM Level 3 assessed software development company located in Chennai, India. It caters to the software development requirements of many Indian as well as international clients. Firstware believes in absolute integrity, ethics and transparent functioning in its businesses. With a strong technical team of energetic and experienced professionals well versed in providing cutting edge solutions in the areas of internet, e-commerce and client-server applications.