Brian Iinuma is President of Strategic Systems Group (SSG), an IT consulting firm based in Los Angeles, California.
A long-time member of IAMCP SoCal, he has made many valuable contributions to the organization over the years and currently holds the role of Treasurer. This IAMCP SoCal member overview delves more into his roles, his company, and the partners he works with.
What is IAMCP SoCal?
The International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners (IAMCP) is a professional organization dedicated to helping businesses grow and develop. It is open to business owners around the world and was originally founded by Microsoft.
Becoming a member allows you to attend regular meetings of your local IAMCP chapter, where you can form new professional relationships and share business tips. IAMCP SoCal is dedicated to members living in Southern California. Meetings are typically held once per month and alternate between the Irvine Microsoft Office and Los Angeles Microsoft Office. You can find out more about IAMCP SoCal here.
Brian Iinuma’s role within IAMCP SoCal
Brian Iinuma has been a member of IAMCP SoCal since 2013. He considers himself an ‘avid fan’ of IAMCP. He began attending regularly in 2014 and has made a concerted effort to be present at almost every meeting since. As past president, Eddie Bader, once joked, he now has a ‘lifetime appointment’ as the chapter’s Treasurer.
As Treasurer, Brian is responsible for the financial oversight of the group. Along with key members Manish Bhardia, Stephen Tanner, Michael Daoud, and Tushar Puri, he plays an important part in the smooth operation of IAMCP SoCal.
About Strategic Systems Group (SSG)
Brian’s company, Strategic Systems Group (SSG), was founded in 1991. IT is an I/T consulting firm with a specialization in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is one of the most popular ERP applications for which SSG provides implementation and support services. However, the company also provides support for other ERP solutions including Infor Baan and ERP LN.
SSG works primarily with manufacturing organizations. It also caters to a number of wholesale distributors who often import products to sell in the US. SSG has also branched out into other industries and currently has a few clients in service industries such as restaurant franchisees. Companies with warehouses and inventory tend to be the biggest focus, as such companies tend to make the best use of their ERP applications.
SSG works with clients across the US and some international clients in Canada and Europe. However, being an LA-based business, SSG mostly works with local enterprises based in California.
Typical clients tend to be manufacturing companies with revenues of $25 million to $250 million USD. SSG helps such companies to improve their IT infrastructure by implementing ERP software or by upgrading their current ERP application.
What is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)?
ERP is a process used by large companies to help capture inputs from various functional areas within the organization. Large companies typically have lots of departments, which may all be using different technology to meet their objectives. ERP aims to link these departments together by making all of their data accessible through one application.
This application is referred to as an ERP application (sometimes just referred to simply as ERP). Integrating a large company’s entire tech infrastructure into a single application can be difficult, which is why specialists’ services are often needed to help implement ERP solutions. Companies like SSG focus on helping companies implement the right ERP, which may include upgrading an existing ERP, in order to maximize their operational teams’ efficiency and productivity.
ERP vs CRM applications
ERP applications and CRM applications are sometimes confused with each other, however, they are usually two very different applications. The main purpose of an ERP application is to tie together financial and operations systems. A CRM (customer relationship management) application is focused on linking together tasks involving customers such as marketing, sales, and customer support.
That isn’t to say that there aren’t some dual-purpose applications out there that do both. For instance, Microsoft Dynamics is known to integrate ERP and CRM functions. Companies with a more heavy back-end focus may benefit more from ERP software, while client-facing businesses with few inventory requirements may benefit more from CRM software. Because every company operates differently, it is important to choose the right application for you.
What is Microsoft Dynamics?
Microsoft Dynamics is part of Microsoft’s Business Solutions. It is an ERP and CRM application that is used by thousands of businesses worldwide.
Industries such as manufacturing, retail and financial services are the biggest user base of Microsoft Dynamics. It is used by companies of all sizes and can be easily scaled up as a company grows, which is one of the reasons why it is so popular. Dynamics is also very easy to integrate with other Microsoft products such as SharePoint, Office, and Azure, which is another reason as to why so many businesses use it.
Companies like SSG help with Dynamics implementations and can make sure businesses are getting the best out of this software. Dynamic lives up to its name by being a dynamic application, but making full use of its dynamic features typically requires professional support – especially when implementing it in a larger business.
Ideal Business Partnerships
SSG is constantly looking for new business partners to work with. An ideal business partner would be a company within the I/T or manufacturing industries.
For example, SSG has previously partnered with I/T consultancy companies that specialize in CRMs. Many clients look to upgrade their ERP and CRM applications together, which makes this a valuable alliance to have as it allows both partners to refer clients to one another.
A company that similarly caters to manufacturing enterprises could be a good connection to have. Similarly, I/T consultancy companies with unique specializations that target enterprises may also offer value.
Think you could benefit from a partnership with SSG? The easiest way to reach out to Brian Iinuma is via LinkedIn, however, you can also get in touch via his website https://ssgnet.com.
For the complete interview with Brian Iinuma and Michael Daoud, please go to https://youtu.be/qNl5MkwdWrk.