Kenton Brothers Implements NetSuite – 5 Critical Steps to Consider

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By Neal Bellamy, IT Director at Kenton Brothers

Here at Kenton Brothers, we’re investing in our systems to help support our customers, both internal and external, in a way that can make us faster to respond, with better information and with more organization than we’ve ever have had before. We’ve done this before, at least four times that I know of… the latest in 2015. At that time, we decided we could no longer have multiple areas for information and that all data had to live in one database. While that system worked from 2015 until now, we’re outgrowing its capabilities. Two years ago we set out on a quest to find out what the next system would look like.

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning

Kenton Brothers - Netsuite ERP FeaturesERP is applicable to almost any kind of business from manufacturing to service companies to franchises. Furthermore, there are hundreds of software packages that claim to be an ERP. In some sense, they are. But their capabilities can be vastly different.

There are software packages that you can buy off the shelf and implement yourself for $40/month. And there is software that you can implement for several thousand dollars per year.

2nd Step – Evaluating Software

This brings us to our second step (Yes, I skipped the first step, hold please…) We evaluated lots of software packages, some were industry specific to physical security, some were generic and could be modified, some were specific to industries that were related to ours. That’s when we learned what the first step should have been.

1st Step – Know Your Business

Gina says, “Without a destination, any road will get you there.” In this case, if you don’t know what you want, any ERP will fit. Which is where we got stuck the first time around. There were lots of options for an ERP that might work. We really hadn’t thought about the areas that were going well, the areas that could be improved, and the areas that needed vast improvement.

We really had to step back and look at the business and decide what was most important to us. And we should have gone through this process before we started looking at software… but lessons learned. I wish that we had found some silver bullet software for our business, but what we found is some are better than others in different areas. Some give and take is required.

KB breaks the traditional mold. Sure, we’re a service company. We come out and fix things if they need to be fixed. We’re also an installation company. When something is old and needs to be replaced, or you have a new need, we do that too. But, if you just want the parts and can install it yourself, we do that as well. Finally, if you’re not sure what you need and just want experts to lead you through the entire process, that’s our bread and butter.

I’ll spare you all the details, but this ERP project was not going to be easy.

KB NetSuite Project TimelineWe talked about our business and documented what was going to be required to be successful. At the end of the day, we determined that we needed something to be flexible and “future proof”.

Once we determined what success would look like, it quickly narrowed the field of possibilities. We learned that industry specific was not going to work for us. There is no industry specific software that exists for KB.

We looked at two competing software platforms that were flexible, future proof and could be customized to KB. That’s when we realized we were going to need an expert.

3rd Step – Find an expert that you can trust.

Meridian Business worked with us early on. They talked with us about the capabilities of NetSuite, long before we decided that NetSuite was a good option. They engaged with us to learn about our business and researched solutions for our needs. Even though we looked at other solutions, we ultimately came back to Meridian Business because they know our business better than anyone else. They dedicated a lot of time and energy understanding our needs and desires.

We started our implementation with Meridian Business in November of 2020. We will go live on January 3rd, 2022. That’s more than a year of meetings, planning, and discussion. It seemed like a long time at first, but now we are 70% of the way complete it seems right on. If we could all stop business tomorrow, pluck the most knowledgeable, most valued people out of the business and sit down for 3-4 months straight, sure we could accomplish the same goal. But business can’t stop. There are customers to serve and people that need paychecks, so we must, as David says, “Paint the train while it’s moving.”

4th Step – Take the time for extensive testing.

KB NetSuite TestingOver the last 9 months, I’ve been able to engage the right people in the business to help make the right decisions. We’re not making snap decisions that are obsolete before we go live. It’s important to actively engage business leaders so they’re not overwhelmed by the coming changes.

Something I thought was odd, was the amount of time dedicated to testing. Surely if everyone knew the requirements (Step 1), testing should not take long. Boy, I was wrong.

There are two issues with requirements:

1. They are never really expressed with exact detail.
2. They are never really understood with exact detail.

Testing takes care of both issues. We have experts working through examples of our typical scenarios to determine where something isn’t right. What we’re finding is that we didn’t understand our own requirements as well as we thought we did. The result? Neither did any of the partners.

Our integration involves five different companies trying to merge their own software and ideas into our final solution. This is no small feat. Testing will take us more than two months. If I could only give you one word of advice, it would be Plan for Testing. (And don’t cheat the timeline.)

5th Step – User Training

Testing should be over soon and we’ll start user testing and training. I am sure we will find additional tweaks that we need to make to the system, but I am confident that the early groundwork we did asking lots of questions and testing our workflows will minimize the amount of work we will have to do in this step. (Famous last words, right?)

With all of the preparation, testing, and training, I know KB will be ready to provide better support to all of our customers and have a platform to lead us into the next stage of our growth. If you’re a customer or partner of Kenton Brothers, I would love to get your feedback as you begin interacting with us through our NetSuite software in January 2022. At KB, we always strive for continuous improvement which doesn’t happen without feedback. So thank you in advance… and here’s to a new and improved KB!

If you have any additional questions about our NetSuite implementation, leave a comment or give us a call!

Remote Support on Demand: Unique Solution for 24-Hour Needs

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The Remote Services Group video library is another way that Kenton Brothers is creating innovative solutions for our customers.

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What is the KB Way?

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By Justine King, Sales and Marketing Administrator at Kenton Brothers

Simply put, the Kenton Brothers Way is a strict set of principles each and every one of our employees are expected to adhere to. We believe that every aspect of our service both begins and ends with the customer; therefore, it is of the highest importance that our entire team follows the KB Way.

The Importance of High Standards in the Security Industry

Here at Kenton Brothers Systems for Security, we recognize the importance of the products and services we provide. Our customers trust us to protect what they hold dearest. For this reason, we focus much of our attention on building partnerships with our customers. The most effective way to prove our loyalty is by carrying out the KB Way in all aspects of our services. This means from the beginning of our sales process to the conclusion of onsite service.

Embody the KB Way

  • Be a good human: This is as simple as it sounds – be someone Mom would be proud of.
  • Know and understand KB core values: Our values are the center of how the Kenton Brothers business is run.
  • Protect people, property and possessions: We work hard to protect what our customers have worked hard for.
  • Do what you say you will: Our employees are expected to follow through and will be held accountable.
  • Clean up after yourself: Cleanliness speaks volumes.
  • Remember the customer pays our bills: The customer is everything – KB begins and ends with ours.
  • Work smart: Anticipate, be efficient and productive. Always stay five steps ahead of the competition.
  • Be prepared: Know your scope and be on time. Preparation is essential for every aspect of KB.
  • Be respectful of others: This includes internal and external customers.
  • Be respectful of your equipment: Organization is a necessity for any great company.
  • Look the customer in the eye and thank them: We appreciate our customers for their continued support.
  • Attitude is everything, KB employees will always pick a good one.

Kenton Brothers: What is the KB Way?

How Do You Represent the KB Way?

“Part of the KB Way is KB’s mission to protect people, property and possessions. As the Security Systems Engineer, I help design the systems to do just that.” – Spencer Wagaman, Security Systems Engineer

“I represent the KB Way by really thinking about the customer, both internal and external. When I get a call from a customer, I try to assess what they need, what their problem is to get that fixed as soon as I possibly can. For internal, I love to help out with any projects in any way possible.” – Kassie Lyons, Accounting Specialist

“I represent the KB Way by working hands-on with software to assist our customers.” – Daniel Bouton, Remote Services Engineer

“I believe I represent the KB Way in my dedication to provide as much knowledge, vivacity and care to my customers and coworkers. I believe it is important to show that I not only care about supporting each of their needs, but I also, like to see them smile.” – Alana Hanly, Security Consultant

KB Way Quotes

STAND APART FROM YOUR COMPETITION AND BE REMARKABLE

Strong Passwords and Multi-Factor Authentication are no joke.

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By Neal Bellamy, IT Director at Kenton Brothers

If you’ve been following us for any length of time, you know that Kenton Brothers is all about your physical security. Today, I’d like to talk a little about a different kind of security… your digital security.

Strong Passwords

Over the past decade you should have got the message to use strong passwords. (Probably too many reminders… but are you still using the same, easy to remember password for all your accounts?)

Passwords like “JackAndJill” and “123456” are fairly easy to hack with brute force methods. Also, as more and more data breaches occur, hackers gets access to lists of usernames and passwords. So even if you did come up with the “un-hackable” password and it got leaked, it’s now compromised.

Is your password on a list somewhere?

Kenton Brothers: Strong Passwords and Multi-Factor AuthenticationDid you know there is a website that can show you how many times your password has been recorded in data breaches? The website is haveibeenpwned.com. You can go there to see if your email or password has shown up on hacked lists. By the way, there is no such thing as an unhackable password. Given enough time, with enough resources, any password can be cracked. It seems pretty dire, doesn’t it? However, there are even better ways to protect yourself.

Passphrases

One way to help protect yourself is to use stronger passwords. Better yet, use passphrases. A passphrase is generally longer than a password, which makes it harder to guess, but easier for you to remember. Think of phrases that you use around your family and work-family and use those phrases as passwords.

For example, my family is pretty sarcastic. So when talking to my daughters about getting asked out on a date, my suggested response for them is “HaHaHaYouInsignificantFool”. Throw in a couple of numbers and special characters and you’ve got an easy to remember, secure password. Just remember… not only is it important to have strong passwords, but you’ve got to change them somewhat frequently.

Password Managers: A Unique Password for Every Website

Another way to protect yourself is to use a unique password for each system or website that you use. Unfortunately, this strategy is harder to implement than it seems. I probably have 100+ unique systems and websites that I would need to remember the unique password for. My brain just doesn’t have that kind of storage. That’s where password managers come into play.

A password manager can remember the passwords for you. You just have to remember the master password for the password manager software. There are lots of options out there. Just Google “password manager” to get started. Some of the most common are LastPass, Roboform and Dashlane.

Password managers can be a little cumbersome, like when I’m browsing from my phone rather than my laptop. However, for important accounts with stored credit cards or other personal information, it’s worth the minor inconvenience.

So far, we have just been talking about passwords. An inherent weakness of a password, besides a weak password, is that they’re a single “key” you need to know to gain access to an account. Even better than a strong, unique password is to pair that password with another form of authentication.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Kenton Brothers: Strong Passwords and Multi-Factor AuthenticationA lot of websites, including Facebook, Google, and Office365, allow Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Multi-Factor Authentication makes sure you are who you say you are by asking for an additional “key” in tandem with your password. MFA can be PIN texted to your phone, an app on your phone that has a PIN that changes every 30 seconds, or a notification on your phone that verifies asks you to confirm you’re trying to log into your account. MFA is easier to use, easier to set up, and more secure than a solitary password.

MFA can be required every time you log in, or only when you’re logging in from a new device. When you log into a site or service, you’re asked for your username and password, but then you’re asked for your second form of authentication. After your MFA is confirmed, you can use the site or service as normal. Since your phone is often the method that your MFA uses, a hacker would need to have your password and your phone to gain access to your account.

Next time you’re given the chance to provide your cell phone number for Multi-Factor Authentication, I recommend you do so! It’s easy to set up and easier to use than a password manager. It’s also more secure than using just a password. For a website that has personal information, but doesn’t have MFA, please make sure your password is unique and strong! This will go a long way towards avoiding the pain of identity theft or other challenging situations if someone were to get into your account.

Captain Kay Sews For Love

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Captain Kay Sews for LoveBy Gina Stuelke, CEO of Kenton Brothers.

We are fortunate to have many good humans on our team. One of them is Bill Harris. Bill has been a valuable part of the KB family since 2003. Bill is married to Kay, otherwise known as Captain Kay, who is also a good human in various ways. But in today’s world, she has an extraordinary gift. She can sew!

Kay has been creating colorful masks and donating them to medical organizations and friends in need in Cass County. Recently, she has been making masks for our KB technicians who are on the front lines with our clients every day… keeping them secure.

Thank you Captain Kay for sewing your heart out to keep us safe!

#KBWay #flattenthecurve