Hayley Null
QUICK READ:
- Founded in 1989 by three men working out of the back of a truck, VIKOR Teleconstruction has grown into a full-service telecommunications infrastructure company.
- As the company’s customer base and geographical reach expanded, it needed better reporting and easier access to data that could help improve decision-making.
- After evaluating multiple ERP systems, the company selected NetSuite and worked with Their NetSuite Partner to implement the software.
- Today, VIKOR uses NetSuite for financial management, general ledger reporting, and fixed asset tracking. VIKOR is also using Their NetSuite Partner’s Job Costing and Retainage modules, built natively into NetSuite.
About VIKOR
A full-service telecommunications infrastructure company, VIKOR Teleconstruction was founded in 1989 by three men working out of the back of a truck. Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the company has grown considerably over the last 34 years by breaking into opportunities across the wireless, renewables, public utility, and transportation industries.
VIKOR’s team of experienced professionals handle tower, antennae, cable, fiber optic, and underground utility installation and maintenance. The 230-employee firm continues to grow as it takes on more projects in the US and abroad.
“We’ve been on a pretty steep growth trajectory,” said Gabe Messler, director, business intelligence and analytics. “Our CEO likes to call us a ‘34-year overnight success.’”
A system that will last for years to come
With VIKOR’s steep growth trajectory came new challenges. As its customer base and geographical reach expanded, for example, it needed better reporting tools and easier access to data that could fuel better decision-making.
Working with an outside consulting team, VIKOR began evaluating ERP systems in early 2021. It wanted a scalable, cloud-based system capable of meeting the specific demands of a construction firm.
“Job costing, the ability to efficiently recognize revenue, and being able to look at our different segments and profitability were all key drivers in our new ERP selection process,” Messler said.
As a field services company, VIKOR has crews “all over the place” and needed an ERP system that could integrate with the various systems it uses to collect data, such as Quickbase for complex project management.
Learning from a failed implementation
In the end, the company’s ERP selection process came down to two systems, NetSuite being one of them. But VIKOR chose the other solution, only for the ERP implementation to fail 18 months later.
“I like to think of it as a really expensive education for my team, but we took the things we learned the first time around and applied them as we started fresh and went through the process again,” Messler said.
It was time for VIKOR to re-evaluate its options. This time around, the business focused on systems that had a proven history of success in construction.
“We always had NetSuite in the back of our minds, so we got connected with NetSuite and they connected us with a NetSuite Partner team,” Messler said. “During our initial meetings with the NetSuite Partner and NetSuite, it was clear they had the construction background we were seeking.”
Ultimately, the VIKOR team decided to work with the NetSuite Partner to implement NetSuite as its new ERP system.
“This time we said, ‘We’re not going to make the same mistake twice. We’re choosing NetSuite and Their NetSuite Partner,’” Messler recalled. “The NetSuite Partner team really spoke our language. It was clear that they understood the needs of contractors and that ultimately made our decision easier.”
Delivered on time and within budget
VIKOR allocated six months for its new ERP implementation and Their NetSuite Partner was able to beat that timeline. Messler said the NetSuite Alliance Partner helped expedite the project and stay on budget throughout.
“I’ve been through a ton of implementations in my career, and I can’t think of one that went better than implementing NetSuite with Their NetSuite Partner,” said Messler. “The experience was tremendous, and everything came in on time and within budget.”
Today, VIKOR is using the cloud ERP’s core functionalities, including financial management, general ledger reporting, and fixed asset tracking. It’s also using our NetSuite Partner’s job costing solution, which feeds payroll and fieldwork information into NetSuite. That’s made revenue recognition easier and helps the construction company see how active projects are performing against profitability metrics.
Clearer view of profitability fuels growth
Thanks to integrations between its existing systems and NetSuite, VIKOR has eliminated time-consuming double data entry and gained better visibility into all operations with the system’s real-time dashboards. Its departmental leaders and accounting team have relevant data at their fingertips, and the latter now closes the books one to two weeks faster every month.
“We saw efficiencies immediately after implementing NetSuite, particularly in terms of our decision-makers’ ability to access information, gain visibility into real-time project reporting, and track profitability by business segment,” Messler said. “That’s all helping to drive very targeted growth.”
After implementing NetSuite with their NetSuite Partner, VIKOR experienced immediate improvements, and revenue grew 15% in its first year on the platform. This is an increase that Messler said wouldn’t have been possible without the accurate, accessible data that team members can easily get from the cloud ERP.
“If you don’t have the right information, your growth won’t be pointed; you’re going to make a lot of bad decisions and bad investments,” Messler said. “NetSuite allows us to make real-time decisions to stay ahead of the different avenues that we’re taking on as we grow our company.”
Entering phase two
VIKOR is committed to providing quality service to its clients and prides itself on its dedication to safety, quality, and customer satisfaction. On the residential construction side, the company is bringing fiber optic internet to homes nationwide and recently installed fiber optic conduits to give Park City, Utah, residents faster internet. VIKOR’s state-of-the-art boring equipment meant minimal disruption for the neighborhood and faster completion of the project.
“We are thrilled to be invited to these communities to perform our services,” VIKOR VP of Operations Jonah Snyder said. “VIKOR has always been a communications contractor, and while typically we perform our services at height, we are proud to bring these services underground.”
Behind the scenes, NetSuite is efficiently and effectively managing VIKOR’s growth, workload, and accounting operations. Their NetSuite Partner continues to serve as an ongoing support partner for the company, providing real-time insights and continued improvement of the company’s month-end close processes.
“We want to keep using the insight we’re getting out of our ERP to focus on targeted growth,” Messler said. “We also want to streamline certain processes that are still a bit manual in nature, and we know NetSuite can help us with that.”
Messler noted that VIKOR also depends on NetSuite to provide the insights the company needs to continue its current growth trajectory and serve its growing client base.
“We look forward to further elevating our industry as a whole plus all of our team members here.”