As SMBs Grow, Partners and Microsoft Must Adapt, says New Managing Director of Advantage Business Systems

If prospects demand of UK-based Advantage Business Systems, "What do you know about growing a small to medium business (SMB)?" they need look no further than the company itself. The 17-year-old Microsoft Dynamics reseller and solutions provider delivers solutions and support for Dynamics GP, NAV, and CRM, as well as third party business intelligence systems. And the company has seen remarkable growth for the last three years.

In that timespan, the company has doubled its annual order values, and in 2015 saw its order book increase by 45% and revenues increase by some 23% over 2014. Also during that time, Advantage has strengthened its global focus with a number of clients with multinational operations.

The company recently appointed Mark Howe as managing director. Since joining Advantage in 2010, Howe served as the Dynamics GP Business Unit Director, and oversaw an increase of 118% in the number of GP customers. Howe shared with us his ideas for delivering growth-sustaining service to SMBs.

Find the right fit

Advantage offers both Dynamics NAV and GP, and Howe likens selecting between the products to buying a new suit. "I can go and buy an off-the-peg suit, and that's Dynamics GP. Where we get into the NAV side, people are not looking for off the peg, they want something that fits them in more detail. And normally they're multilingual and multitax. So for multinational companies, Dynamics NAV fits well."

Advantage has both GP and NAV teams, and says Howe, part of his job is managing their coexistance, "There's still some wrangling, ‘That looks like one of yours, that looks like ...