The package John Jarvis bought was contract and financial management system AXIM from Ramesys Construction (Redsky at the time). The chairman of John Jarvis, Ernest Turley, claims that the Ramesys Construction salesman mislead him over the number of users of the system and its capabilities. "He claimed all the bugs were out of the system and that it had 2000 users. Then a year after we ordered AXIM, the operational director at the time, Roger Horsely, told us only 100 companies were on it."
Users of AXIM
Ramesys Construction says that except for John Jarvis, all of the now 200 users of AXIM are happy with its performance, and that the firm's expectations of the product were too high. Other users of AXIM contacted by Construction Computing said they were happy with the system but that they had reservations about the support they received.
After-sales care was also a problem for John Jarvis. According to office manager Colin Spicer, the original trainer Ramesys Construction sent to help them implement the system had so little knowledge of AXIM that they had to ask for a replacement. "He assumed that we had knowledge of Buildaxe, the old Redsky accounting system, but we had used our own bespoke system before. He seemed to know more about Buildaxe than AXIM and was always on the phone to the helpdesk for advice." When employees at John Jarvis tried to get help from Ramesys Construction, they found it equally difficult. "We could never get through to the support desk," says Spicer "it was always engaged. We then had to leave questions on a log call system, but as we have been dealing with Ramesys Construction a long time now, we have direct dial numbers, so we can get through to a human quickly." Though Spicer says that he would use another system if he could start over again, he says that the Ramesys Construction service is improving. "They are starting to listen more. The present operations director, Julian Rowlandson, is very helpful, and things are starting to improve." Ramesys Construction has set up an AXIM user group, so users can meet and discuss common problems and solutions, which Spicer says has been helpful; but it still doesn't make up for previous treatment.
"We had to take on an extra member of staff to cope with the changeover from our previous system and run both together to begin with. Add that to the £25,000 investment in the system and hardware, and it's a substantial amount for a firm with a turnover of £3.5m." "We feel like we are guinea pigs for AXIM" says Spicer, "that we try it out and find all the bugs. Of course no system is perfect, but there were too many bugs compared to what we were led to believe when we were sold it. We wouldn't have signed up to it if we'd known."
Similar problems
Down the road from Jarvis, in Paddock Wood, Kent, Baxall Construction has been experiencing similar problems in implementing Ramesys Construction systems. It planned to use a whole range of Ramesys software, including AXIM and Esteem, an estimating package that draws together purchasing, accounts and project management.
The managing director of Baxall, Malcolm Clarke, says that in theory the system is very exciting, but in practice it did not always meet expectations. "The potential for the package is brilliant, but Ramesys Construction should have got it sorted before they started selling it. We were led to believe it was better than it was." Baxall went live with Esteem in October 1999, with the intention of phasing in AXIM at a later date. However, Baxall claims that by April 2000 there were a lot of problems with Esteem, and implementing the other system had to be put off until November.
Ramesys Construction acknowledges that there were a few bugs in the Esteem system but says that they were fixed very swiftly. It claims that implementation was more difficult because Baxall obtained its hardware from another source.
The support partnership
Clarke has similar complaints to Spicer regarding to the support provided by Ramesys Construction. "At first you could never get through, and then you had to leave a message, which they never replied to. The back-up was dreadful, and they were very slow to react to our suggestions," he adds.
Clarke agrees that the service is improving, slowly. "Ramesys Construction does seem to be answering queries a bit better now," he says " and it has provided some extra training, though we had to push them for that. They aren't prepared to offer any financial compensation and are very insistent on making us pay every penny. But I am satisfied with what they have proposed to rectify the situation; we just need to see some action now." "The product's right," says Clarke, "but it needed more testing. I would still buy the system if I could start over again, but I wouldn't pay as much money for it, and I will be looking elsewhere for other IT services." Tim Nichols, marketing manager for Ramesys Construction, says that there are 200 users of the AXIM system and 70 of the Esteem package, all of which, with the exception of Baxall and John Jarvis, are happy with the product. "Clients have to enter into a partnership with us to implement the system – they have to have IT and accounts personnel ready to work with us" he says. "We have put in 11 extra days with John Jarvis to try and resolve the problems that they had, but they need to offer expertise as well." Ann Edwards, accounts controller at £15m-turnover contractor George and Harding, is pro-AXIM. "I have heard of people who knock the system, but if you know how to use it, it's fine," she says.
Edwards says there were some problems in the early stages of use. "We have been on Buildaxe (the predecessor of AXIM) since 1988, and we were one of the first to transfer onto AXIM, in 1998. At first Ramesys Construction would never tell us how many people were using the system, and we felt there were some areas that weren't ready for release at the time, but we have no problems with it now." Edwards adds that AXIM is very flexible and integrates well with other computer packages.
It takes two
She says that training was no problem, but that the concept of AXIM is very similar to Buildaxe. Edwards added that she could understand how if someone had not used any Ramesys Construction systems before, learning how to use AXIM could present a difficulty.
"There were big problems with support in the early days" she adds, "because everything was a bit new and different, but we have no problems now." David Sheldon, financial manager at Derby-based contractor HW Martin, says that the company has been using AXIM for two years since transferring from Buildaxe and is satisfied with the system. "The support could be speedier," he comments, "but otherwise we are happy with AXIM." Nichols admits that the support at Ramesys Construction hasn't always been up to scratch. "We accept that in the past the support has not been 100% available, but we have invested a lot in trying to improve it. For example, we now have a customer services director to address these issues, and the past six months have seen a rapid improvement in support." As for John Jarvis' problem with training, Nichols says that Ramesys Construction trainers are given regular updates on all the products on which they train. "Although we subcontract our training, it is in name only. The trainers work exclusively for us, and we develop and support their knowledge." "Baxall and John Jarvis had expectations about the products that were too high" he adds. "These systems will not work with a company's existing systems out of the box – a lot of configuration is needed. There were a number of bugs with Esteem, but they were all fixed very swiftly. It also didn't help in Baxall's case that they bought in hardware from another source which we weren't familiar with." Nichols was not prepared to comment on the behaviour of individual salesmen or how they represent the company or its number of users, but he emphasised that it takes two to implement a software package. "Any system is only as good as the commitment from the customer – if they don't put the effort in as well as us, it's not going to work."
A long two years
September 1998:John Jarvis sign up to use the Ramesys Construction AXIM system, after being told by a salesman that it had 2000 users November 1998:
Training begins at John Jarvis to help staff implement AXIM January 1999:
John Jarvis go live with AXIM, rolling the system out over the next six months February 1999:
John Jarvis request another trainer because the one sent by Ramesys Construction has inadequate knowledge of the system March 1999:
Ramesys Construction sends a new trainer, who proves more satisfactory August 1999:
Ramesys Construction operational director Roger Horsely admits to John Jarvis that there are only 100 companies using AXIM September 1999:
Baxall Construction sign up to Ramesys Construction AXIM and Esteem systems and are misled over the number of users on the systems October 1999:
Baxall go live with Esteem, with plans to launch the rest of the system in April 2000 April 2000:
Baxall have to put back plans to go live with AXIM due to the problems they are having in implementing Esteem November 2000:
Baxall go live with AXIM, seven months later than originally planned January 2001:
John Jarvis and Baxall are still waiting for bugs to be ironed out of their Ramesys Construction systems after the promise of extra training and support. Both companies acknowledge the service has improved
Source
Construction Manager
