Somati Fie's smooth transition from Navision to Business Central

Somati Fie has about 100 service technicians driving around all day. Their job? Helping companies maintain fire safety. It's operationally complex, so having a solid ERP to rely on is no luxury. Unfortunately, Microsoft's Navision was becoming outdated, and Somati Fie wasn't prepared for an immediate upgrade to Business Central. So they called in Cegeka's help to support Navision and simultaneously prepare the implementation of the new ERP. 

Helping companies stay fireproof

Every building needs fire safety. With about 150 employees, Aalst-based Somati Fie - the 'Fie' stands for First Intervention Equipment - helps companies to maintain fire safety. 

Concretely, they advise on how many extinguishers, hose reels and emergency lights are needed, provide yearly maintenance and official safety certificates, advise on evacuation plans, organize fire training for employees, and they also offer some custom fire safety solutions. 

From Navision to Business Central

To organize and plan all these activities, Somati Fie used Microsoft Navision for many years. "We have about 10 to 15k clients, so our field planning is quite complex. Navision worked well for us over the years, but at a certain point, the software became outdated", explains Jellert Martens, IT Manager at Somati Fie. 


"Microsoft stopped supporting Navision, and we were no longer working with the company that implemented it back in the day. The biggest issue was that we simply weren't ready to implement a completely new platform. We wanted to keep Navision live for at least 2 more years before upgrading to Business Central."

"We wanted to keep Navision live for at least 2 more years before upgrading to Business Central."

- Jellert Martens, IT Manager at Somati Fie

Cegeka's double hat

"We were looking for a partner that would both help us support Navision for the time being, and simultaneously plan the upgrade to Business Central", Jellert continues. "Luckily, Cegeka turned out to be the perfect fit for both jobs. They were very familiar with both platforms and our business."

"Cegeka helps us to keep Navision running, while simultaneously reviewing our processes to stay as close to standard as possible."

- Jellert Martens, IT Manager at Somati Fie

"Maintaining Navision entailed some custom work to support our processes with minimal investments. When using an old system, new integrations with other tools need to be custom built. We use Navision as our main ERP for stock management, invoicing, sales, finance and the service module. Cegeka helps us to keep Navision running, while simultaneously reviewing our processes to stay as close to standard as possible. That way, we are prepared to implement Business Central more smoothly." 

Fit to standard

"Cegeka eventually offered us support on Navision for three years, and we are currently in the solution - design - build phase for Business Central. Everything that requires custom actions now, will be standardized as much as possible in the new ERP. The good thing is that they got to know our company for the past 3 years, so they can really advise us on how to keep our processes as close to standard as possible." 

"The biggest advantage of Cegeka - besides the fact that they truly dig in and understand our business - is that they have a big team with specific expertise. For a middle-sized company like ours, it's invaluable to have so much expertise to rely on. The project manager keeps track of all the activities and makes sure there are never any surprises. And whatever issue we face, there is always someone on the team who can help us." 

Staying up to date with Business Central

"Preparing to implement Microsoft Business Central is kind of like starting with a clean slate", Jellert says. "Over the years we built a lot of custom connections and integrations. With Business Central, we will be able to upgrade more easily. Our processes are now well-documented, and our IT team will be much more flexible to manage key tasks like reporting, invoicing and security. Building this solid foundation means we will be able to stay up-to-date for the years to come." 

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