Success Stories

Every year, Activant holds a conference for all users of its enterprise solutions for distributors called Summit. The conference features seminars on industry trends and business practices, educational sessions to increase users' knowledge of their Activant solution, and a Technology Center that gives attendees the chance to apply what they have learned in a hands-on manner. Even though more Activant users than ever attended Summit 2008 in New Orleans, there are doubtless still many who wonder: Is it worth it for us to attend?

Absolutely, says HCS-Cutler Director of Finance Jim Scott. In a post-Summit interview, Scott needed no prompting to describe in detail the value he got out of the educational programs and resources offered at Activant's annual customer conference for wholesalers and distributors.

"I'm very much a systems person," he said. "Whatever system I'm working with, I'm always testing the outer boundaries of its capabilities."

Concentrated Learning

Scott joined the Rancho Cucamonga, CA-based distributor of construction and industrial tools and supplies in January 2008, so he was looking to learn as much as he could about Activant Prophet 21 as soon as he could. A deep knowledge of SQL Server and Crystal Reports gave him a leg up going into his new position, but he realized that he still had a lot to learn, and Summit looked like a good place to learn a lot in a little time.

"I came loaded with a bunch of questions," Scott said. "I wanted to learn about all the tools that were available to me. I had the Computer-Based Training disks, but because of all the fire drills I had to run since coming on board, I hadn't had the time to go through them, and nobody else there had really been able to explore them either."

Fast Answers From People Who Know Them

At Summit, he got that time to explore and learn, and he got answers to his questions too. Scott had nothing but praise for the attentiveness of the conference staff and the quality of assistance they provided. "When I had technical questions about the accounting components, I was able to get to the people who could answer them in short time," he said. "Activant representatives directed me to the right people to answer my questions – if it wasn't the person I was talking to, they would literally walk me over to the right person; there was none of the 'You'll have to wait until someone gets free' responses I've gotten at other conferences I've attended.

"And the tech people answered my questions honestly and didn't try to cover anything up. I got answers to all my questions, even though some were answers I didn't want to hear."

One problem Scott did have at Summit was choosing from among the hundreds of sessions. "After talking with attendees, I would often find there were sessions I wished I could attend but didn't," he said. "For instance, I attended technology-focused sessions that I thought were critical to my function, but realized afterward that I also wanted to attend sessions on things like pricing and business strategy."

Of the various user conferences put on by software companies that Scott has attended over the years, he said that Summit was far and away the most useful. "I'm already ready to book next year's conference in Nashville, and I plan to attend as long as there are things I can learn from the conference," he said. "I got more than I went in for."

For more information on Activant's enterprise software solutions, please fill out our Web Contact Form.

Back to Top