What Value Will Deltek Insight Bring to Government Contracting Accounting Professionals?
Historically, many have written to the ROI of the Deltek Insight conference. Using it to “convince” management or a boss that it would be beneficial for the organization that they attend. This is not that discussion. This is about you as an accounting/finance professional, your growth and your value to your current or any future organization you may be a part of.
Deltek has been offering the conference forum to their users for a long time now (well over 15 years) but about 12 years ago (give or take) Deltek began the Deltek Insight branded conference to include all Deltek products under one knowledge umbrella.
To date, I have attended all but one of these (the year my daughter was born). When I first started going, I was a user at an organization of about 70 employees in size. The event opened my eyes in many ways, and at that point, two things happened:
- I wished that I went when the company was smaller, as it’s hard to turn a big ship
- I made sure I could attend every conference in the future.
Why I Attend Every Deltek Conference:
Today, there are so many one-day seminars, lunch & learns, workshops, etc. I have attended many of these and there is always one theme throughout; most people spend the event in the hallway on their phones, or in the session checking their email on their phone/laptop. Basically, working remotely for some or part of the day. Additionally, most of these events are heavily attended by service providers and there is little you can glean from what your peers are doing. In short, separation from the day-to-day duties of your job make it impossible to see what’s in front of you and determine how it applies to you and your organization or skillset.
As a professional in the Government Contract accounting space, and in particular when you are in this role at a small or mid-sized business, you need to be able to separate yourself from the day to day, to think strategically about your skillset and your organization’s needs and growth pattern. Deltek Insight offers this exact forum. Your first job is to get the books closed and monthly operations completed, but as a professional, you need to stay in front of your industry, and your organization.
As the organization you work for grows, the team you will work with daily will grow, as will the needs of the organization. As a leader, people will look to you for solutions, to know what’s possible.
Don’t miss this opportunity to grow yourself.
Deltek Insight Format:
The format for Deltek Insight lends itself to growth. By separating you from your daily activities for a few days, you are able to focus on what is in front of you. Deltek provides a forum for you to talk to other users in your industry, see what they are doing and how they do it. However, knowing you are busy, the conference builds breaks around lunch into the schedule to allow you to perform your required daily activities as well as catch up on email so you don’t return to the office with a pile of incomplete tasks. Over the course of the week you will find there is always someone who has walked down the road you are setting out on. Meeting them at the start of your journey is of tremendous value.
While you are growing, so is Deltek; as a software company, Deltek is now updating functionality in systems on a monthly basis, this means that if you have not been keeping up, there are 12 updates to the product since the last conference!
As a leader in the space, Deltek is ideally positioned to give you an understanding of capabilities like:
- Subcontractors
- Contracts Management
- DCAA Incurred Cost
- Revenue & Audit Trends
- Proposal and Opportunity Management
- Recruitment of Talent
- Human Resources Management
- Project Management
- Provisional and Forward Rates
Deltek Insight not only discusses how these types of activities can happen but also how to optimize processes that you may already be doing, simple tasks like AP processing, Cash Forecasting, Credit Card Reconciliation.
In Addition, many of the functions you perform today may be getting updates/upgrades and you will have an opportunity to see these functions in advance of their release. Giving you a minute to plan and get your organization ready for the things to come.
My Objectives as a user or Insight:
- Find out about enhancements to things we are already doing
- Build relationships with the Deltek product managers
- Learn about new features that may be helpful in the future
- Learn how others are handling the same challenges you face every day
It’s easy to see why I like the atmosphere of learning provided by the Deltek Insight conference. Understand it will be about a $5k investment by you or your organization to step away for a few days. The knowledge, relationships, and perspective you will gain far exceed the costs associated. The biggest challenge in life becomes balance, don’t let your professional education and learning not get its due; staying ahead of the curve is far easier than catching those that get in front of you. If you have taken time to read all of this, and do believe in the benefits of attending, as a sponsor for the conference we have some coupons to share with those who may be interested in attending – send us a note and we will send you a code! There are only a few to go around.
-Martin McGann, Founder of PCI
