A professional services enterprise operating in Asia and North America uses GM-X to manage projects, track professional time as well as out-of-pocket expenses, and invoice its clients.
Previously, these processes per performed manually using office applications such as spreadsheets, word processing and project management software. Consolidating this information in a timely manner proved diffficult, leading to billing errors and delays, because project team members are located all over the world. An integrated system was required that would enable the firm and its clients to securely share, review and update project plans, status, deliverables, issues and project documentation over the Web.
SOLUTION BRIEF
GM-X is currently deployed to support engagements having Steering Committee members and project resources spanning 13 time zones with personnel situated in Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the United States. As a native enterprise-class Web application, GM-X facilitates secure collaboration through its built-in security and role-based access controls, collaboration tools (To-Do lists, Message of the Day and workflow capabilities), multiple time zone support, multiple currency support and multi-language support.
Because GM-X supports the sale of services in addition to products, multiple service classes are set up within the GM-X Product subsystem, each with its own standard billing rate.
For each engagement, a sales order is created in the GM-X Order subsystem identifying all the service classes to be delivered by the firm, together with any discounts negotiated with the client. Up-to-date project plans are maintained via the GM-X Project subsystem, and each project activity is linked to one or more resource requirements within the GM-X Work Effort subsystem. Those requirements, in turn, are linked to specific specific service classes within the sales order.
These linkages make it possible for GM-X to automatically and simultaneously update work in process accruals as well as the status of each project activity whenever project team members enter their actual time and expenses into GM-X, which they can do daily from anywhere using a PC, tablet or smartphone. GM-X workflow is used to review and approve time and expense entries. When a project milestone is completed, the GM-X Invoice subsystem creates an invoice and routes it to the client by email.
The GM-X Project subsystem provides a visual Gantt chart allowing the firm and its clients to track project status in real time. Additional listings and reports are available to track project deliverables, issues and documentation. Confidentiality is protected by the GM-X virtual private database, which allows clients to view only information that is relevent to their projects.
GM-X Subsystems Utilized
