Four years ago Dennis Tortora, controller for the world-famous piano maker Steinway & Sons, took a long look at accounting software on the market and "walked away realizing that the middle market was not ready." The middle market, in his definition, is the software that's been developed for companies who need a whole lot more functionality than a shrink-wrapped $199 software package off a retail shelf, but they don't need to pay a $100,000-plus price tag.

Tortora knew exactly what he wanted: an accounting and business management package that was as finely constructed and as tightly tuned as one of Steinway's handmade pianos, considered by many to be the finest in the world. At the time, Steinway was using a "homegrown" accounting system that was programmed in COBOL on an HP3000. For Tortora and the 25 users who needed to access information from the system, which includes customer service and two remote locations, it was apparent that Steinway needed to completely throw out the old system and start over.

The homegrown system just wasn't capable of giving Steinway executives the information they needed to manage the company. Steinway & Sons CEO Bruce Stevens said, "This was less of a cost issue than a critical business issue. Our previous system just couldn't provide the management team with the information we needed, how we needed it."

But Tortora couldn't find the software he needed at a price he was willing to pay, so he waited. It wasn't until the Spring of 1996 when "I began the process again in earnest."

Steinway's approach to the process is a textbook case of how the process should work, according to the Navision Solution Center who ultimately won their confidence and the business. "Dennis Tortora and his staff went through one of the most thorough processes that we've seen," said Larry Schiff, president of Business Management International (BMI) in New York. "Many companies can learn a tot from the way Steinway approached the selection process."

Helpful Tools

Tortora began his selection process by acquiring two tools: The Accounting Library (published by Solutions, Inc. in Richmond, Va.) and The Requirements Analyst (published by Rockville, Md., Computer Training Services, Inc.). Both of these are evaluative software packages that ask questions of the user and then deliver a short list which ranks all the packages that best meet the needs of a company.

Navision's software, Navision Financials, ranked in the top five for both packages. "While these were helpful, I would never make a final selection based on this because the information may be outdated, Tortora said. "However, these tools are excellent places to begin a search."

One of the first steps Tortora's team undertook was to implement a 1,500 question survey found in The Requirements Analyst. Every user in the company took the survey including employees in customer service, accounting, senior management and order entry. Once all of the surveys were filled out, Tortora gathered the review team together, and they developed a consensus answer for each one of the 1,500 questions.

In addition to helping Tortora rank software packages, the guides became source material for a handbook that assisted Tortora with the decision-making process. "We used the guides to literally create a book, with chapters for every step." Tortora and his team would review a chapter each week. His team included the director of MIS, which reports to Tortora, and his key accounting staff -- the directors of general accounting and cost accounting and two staff accountants.

More Research

Steinway's research also led them to an accounting software trade show, SoftEx. "I went to the show with three of my directors and talked to every vendor for two solid days," Tortora said. "I went to find out the things software solutions didn't do well, to clear up any confusion we had about the solutions and to get a hands-on feel for the manufacturer of the software and its vendors.

"I was bowled over by the professional, yet low-key approach of BMI, the Navision Solution Center. We had a very good meeting and when we came back to our offices, we went through our notes and selected Navision and one other software company as our leading candidates. The next step was to invite them to Steinway for a presentation.

"I was really impressed with the software, the Navision Solution Center and the level of support to the Solution Center from Navision Software US. At Steinway, we develop relationships with our customers and vendors, and we saw a lot of us in Navision Software. We are a world-class company, and they are a world-class software solution."

Tortora said that if he had to narrow it down to the two main reasons Steinway selected Navision, it would have to be the robustness of the software and its affordability. Steinway purchased every one of the granules sold by Navision Software, with the exception of Payroll, which is currently outsourced to ADP. In addition to the two main reasons Steinway chose Navision Financials, Tortora listed the following four attributes, which also made the selection process easy:

1. Navision Financials' simplicity of design. "it is very easy to use."
2. The product has powerful features and the Navision Solution Center could effectively demonstrate them. "The key feature was the drill-down capability -- this was the most impressive feature yet it was so simple to do."
3. The solution is a very cost-effective answer to the technology question of how to upgrade.
4. Navision Financials is a multinational, multicurrency and multilingual solution. It has all of the high-end features at a middle-market price.

The installation process has now begun for both Steinway & Sons and the Boston Piano Company, a subsidiary.

Steinway will be using Navision's Internet capabilities to have sales managers communicate and send information while they're on the road and they'll have it linked to the remote stores as well as customer service. "Ultimately, we'll have our dealer network online and they'll be able to link up the status of their orders. I know they will be very excited about those capabilities," Tortora said.