Phocas and Datafile join forces to offer SMEs a digital transformation roadmap

Phocas business intelligence and Datafile software solutions, two longstanding software providers dedicated to solving data problems for the SME market in the United Kingdom, have signed a local partnership agreement. Together, they aim to provide a digital transformation roadmap to small and medium sized businesses by making business intelligence compatible to all versions of the Datafile ERP.

Phocas data analytics offers an out-of-the-box solution for Datafile customers, so the BI software comes with built-in dashboards, metrics and content. Phocas is built for the everyday user, which means people across all job functions — from finance to sales — can access powerful data insights.

Sean Bennison, a data consultant at Phocas says it's the perfect time for small to mid-market businesses looking for digitisation and data-decision making to consider adding data analytics.

“The pandemic has been a catalyst for change across businesses, and the pace of that change is accelerating at 5 times the rate of previous years. What is evident is that companies are becoming more digitally driven to serve the ‘new’ customer and data analytics provides full data visibility of operations and financial performance,” said Sean.

Phocas and Datafile want to use the partnership to help SME businesspeople across manufacturing, distribution and retail to harness their ERP data. Phocas delivers actionable data insights which enables people to address many interdependent issues simultaneously.

“Businesspeople need to make a lot of decisions daily, and they need evidence, daily patterns of behaviour and facts to help guide them through,”said Sean.

Managing Director of Datafile, Terry Moore believes SMEs can digitally transform without a huge investment of resources, so Phocas’ low barrier to entry helped confirm the partnership.

“Phocas doesn't require a big project or resources to get started; it's cloud-based and simple to implement. It has a high adoption rate within a business. These factors are important for our customers,”said Terry.

Datafile and Phocas share two customers already in the UK, Alan T. Carr, a bathroom distribution business and Vaughan Designs, a manufacturer of decorative lighting, furniture and accessories.

“Phocas has completely transformed the way our business utilises data. Simple to use for analysing sales, purchasing and reporting. Without doubt, my best colleague,” said Stuart Lonsdale, Sales & Purchasing Manager, Alan T.Carr.

“Vaughan uses Phocas as its go-to reporting tool alongside our main operating system, Datafile. Whether it is a standard daily report or a specific customer or stock query, it’s a simple and adaptable way of analysing our data allows us to have in-depth visibility within seconds. The filtering and drill- down approach are not only logical but simple to use and understand for all users across the business. It is an essential and valued tool for our business and one we would not want to be without.” said Tim Coles, Managing Director, Vaughan Designs.