Time is of the ‘Essentials’ – An Introduction

Blog 1 in Matt Treadway's series on 'Time is of the Essentials' in Professional Services. The first blog is an introduction to the series looking at what is a professional services company, a quick insight into Hitachi Solutions Essentials for Professional Services solutions and the importance of time.

We all know how valuable time is. Even the richest people on earth can’t buy an extra single second of it. It is our most precious resource and one that must be used and invested carefully. This is never more appropriate than when we think about an organisation that actually exists to trade on time. These organisations I call ‘Professional Services’.  

What are Professional Services?

That is a very good question, as there are so many types of businesses that fall into this category. From Accountants and Solicitors to Engineers. They don’t make anything that we can put on a shelf in a warehouse, like in Manufacturing or buy something to then re-sell it, like in Retail.

I think that we can simply define a Professional Services company as one which sells its employee’s time and expertise to its clients.

More often than not, the main asset of a Professional Services business is the expertise and knowledge of its employees. The business then sells this expertise in neat little packages, called minutes and hours.

What is Essential to a Professional Services business?

Before I get into detail, I must confess that I have a slight advantage when it comes to this particular topic. Hitachi Solutions are a Professional Services Company which has implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, not only for hundreds of companies around the world but also for ourselves. As a result of this experience, we have devised a carefully crafted product called ‘Essentials’. This solution is designed to give maximum benefit to our Professional Services clients who use Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations.

I would argue that everything that really matters to a Professional Services company and what is key in the success of the business all relates back to time.

I have identified 5 key elements of time that drive the success of a Professional Services business. As an added bonus, I have also tied this back to how Hitachi Solutions could assist in implementing Microsoft software to leverage these elements to the business’ advantage.

In my series of articles, I really want to demonstrate to you how the partnership between Hitachi Solutions and Microsoft can help your organisation make the best use of this most valuable resource: Time.

The next article in this series will discuss how the overall implementation of time can not only be reduced but at the same time add value by focusing on the elements that really matter to your organisation. This is what we call Essentials!

For more information, speak to our experts today.