Baker Tilly Staples Rodway | On-premise to Retain Cloud

Background

Baker Tilly Staples Rodway relied on Retain On-Premise for over ten years to manage resource scheduling and workforce planning. While the system had served them well, it was reaching the end of its lifecycle and lacked the scalability, reporting capabilities, and real-time insights required in a modern professional services environment.

The biggest challenges with the on-premise system were: 

• Limited remote access meant employees had to use a VPN to log in, making access to their hosted systems slow and cumbersome. 

• Manual reporting made it difficult to extract engagement costings and required separate reports, preventing quick decision-making. 

• There was no real-time visibility into budgets, leaving managers without instant insight into engagement costs and resource capacity, making it harder to control budget overruns. 

• Ageing infrastructure and the end of support for the on-premise system made it more economically effective to transition to a cloud-based solution that could integrate seamlessly with reporting tools without any upfront purchase of replacement infrastructure. 

• Frequent budget overruns were becoming a concern as there was no easy way to compare scheduled versus actual resource usage. The firm needed a more transparent and efficient way to track costs and plan resources in real time.

Evaluating Alternative Solutions 

To ensure the best solution, the firm explored multiple resource management platforms, including: 

• Comparable solutions proposed to offer advanced AI-driven automation, but the high cost made it difficult to justify given their was limited real business benefit in the efficiencies proposed. Retain Cloud provided focussed AI-Matching capabilities augmenting resourcing decisions for the firm at a better cost to value proposition. 

• Crossover Professional Services Automation (PSA) Services provided a user-friendly interface but lacked deep resource planning capabilities and real-time engagement tracking, making it more suited to task management than workforce optimisation.

• Other specialist resourcing tools offered a self-service model but lacked the maturity and tailored configuration that Baker Tilly Staples Rodway required for implementation.

Following live demos and hands-on testing, the firm found that Retain Cloud provided the best balance of functionality, financial oversight, and scalability.

Implementation: A Smooth Transition to Retain Cloud
Migrating from an on-premise system with ten years of historical data was a significant task, but Retain’s structured implementation process ensured a seamless transition.

Retain’s support team worked closely with Baker Tilly Staples Rodway to ensure a smooth data migration while helping the firm refine internal best practices. Custom fields were reviewed and optimised to ensure Retain Cloud could provide the most accurate and meaningful reporting insights.

The transition was exceptionally smooth, with minimal disruption to operations. Retain’s intuitive interface and familiar workflow meant that only one training session was needed for employees to get up to speed.

Results: Cost Transparency, Improved Resource Planning, and Operational Efficiency

Since implementing Retain Cloud, Baker Tilly Staples Rodway has gained greater control over project costs and resource capacity, solving many of the issues that led to frequent budget overruns.

• Proactive Financial Management: Instant engagement costing and budget tracking now allow managers to see the cost of an engagement instantly and compare it to the planned budget, enabling proactive financial management.

• Data-Driven Costing: Readily available costing information has made resource planning more data-driven, with managers able to make informed decisions on resourcing and budgeting in real time.

• Access Anywhere: Remote accessibility has improved efficiency by allowing employees to access Retain from anywhere without needing a VPN.

• Seamless Adjustments: Faster scheduling and adjustments have made changes to resource allocations seamless compared to the manual updates and syncing required with the on-premise system.

• Insightful Reporting: Enhanced reporting and forecasting through Power BI integration provide deeper insights into resource utilisation, budget alignment, and capacity planning, allowing the firm to make more data-driven decisions.

• Time efficiency: Scheduling time has been reduced by up to 50%, with processes that previously took four to six hours now taking just two or so hours, freeing managers to focus on higher-value work.

• Real-time tracking: The ability to track resource allocation and costs in real-time has allowed Baker Tilly Staples Rodway to prevent budget overruns before they happen, improving overall profitability and project efficiency.

Final Thoughts
In conclusion, the transition to Retain Cloud has significantly enhanced Baker Tilly Staples Rodway's operational efficiency and financial management. By moving from an on-premise solution to Retains modern, cloud-based platform, the firm has gained real-time insights, improved decision-making capabilities, and streamlined scheduling processes. This transformation has not only mitigated the risk of budget overruns but also empowered the firm to optimise resource allocation and boost overall profitability. Retain Cloud stands out as a comprehensive enterprise solution that supports the firm's commitment to excellence and innovation in resource management.