What is our primary use case?
I am a user of Infor and occasionally use Salesforce as well. I have been using Infor for close to a decade. I am a consultant, specifically an implementation consultant where I implement Infor LN. I spent 12 years in IT, initially starting with Baan and other in-house applications, and after two years I was introduced to Infor LN. Since then, I have been with Infor. In between, I switched between applications like Salesforce and Infor LN, but most of my total experience and most of the time I have been using Infor LN. You can consider Infor LN itself as my total experience in IT.
What is most valuable?
Infor is an AWS partner and cloud partner. Most of the customers I have dealt with were directly with AWS itself. Infor is partnered with AWS, so they directly provide us with the URL that is based on AWS.
I am a functional consultant who manages supply chain, manufacturing, warehousing, quality, and service modules. The deployment activity is taken care of by the Infor admin team. Once the provision is given and the URL is provided, that is when the configuration from the functional team will start. I start the configuration once the provisioning of the cloud environment is ready. When we have to move from the test environment to the production environment, again it is URL-based. We take a cut-off call and cut-off meetings, then Infor provides a new URL which is exclusively for the production environment. The configuration, migration, data migration, report migrations, and any customizations happen at that point.
The first valuable feature is the deployment methodology, which is cloud-based and partnered with AWS, which is one of the most reliable and secure cloud platforms available. Infor is based on the AWS platform. The second feature is technology. By technology, I mean the interface is user-friendly and easy to understand. We have analytics, alerts, dashboards, workflows, and sorting and filtering options. The reporting is also simple drag and drop. All of this makes the user feel more comfortable. The third valuable feature is the core functionality. Infor is very strong in the manufacturing area and the service area. It also supports major projects like turnkey projects. The quality module is also part of Infor LN and has deep functionality.
Another significant advantage is the implementation accelerators, which are pre-configured or pre-tailored industry-specific processes. For example, if a customer is from the aerospace and defense industry, Infor provides a specific configuration where sample data, sample parameters, sample rules and regulations are already there, and all the modules related to aerospace and defense are tailoredly available pre-configured. The workflows, alerts, dashboards, and all the parameters are readily available for an aerospace and defense customer to start using the application. When we get into the configuration, we collect the data from the customer so that the customer will see the reliability with their own data and will start configuring. The biggest advantage when you start using Infor LN is the implementation accelerators where you have access to pre-configured or pre-tailored data points and dashboards that suit the specific industry. There are five verticals including aerospace and defense, industrial enterprise, and construction. For all different types of industries, solutions are already pre-configured in terms of workflows, alerts, modules, and functionality.
What needs improvement?
The workflow configuration, alert configuration, and report designing could be a bit easier. It is easy now, but it needs some technical guidance in terms of writing code, fixing it, and making it more flexible for users. The improvement needed in this area is around twenty percent. Seventy to eighty percent is user-friendly, but if Infor can put more energies into making this easier, that would be beneficial.
Extensions and any customizations are also a bit technical. If they can make it a simple drag and drop, low code or no code method, it would be easier. Another area for improvement is AI integration. As we are in the AI era, Infor is putting energies into integrating AI within the application, but they are still in progress. If AI can be integrated so that customers or users can interact with it, that would be beneficial. If users want any information from the system or application, it should be a chat-based, user-friendly interaction so that they can get insights in real time. AI integration would add an advantage on a greater level, and Infor should focus on this improvement area.
For how long have I used the solution?
I spent 12 years in IT. Initially, I started with Baan and other in-house applications, and after two years I was introduced to Infor LN. Since then, I have been with Infor. In between, I switched between applications like Salesforce and Infor LN, but most of my total experience and most of the time I have been using Infor LN. You can consider Infor LN itself as my total experience in IT.
What other advice do I have?
We are a channel partner for Infor. Until 2018, it was on-premise mostly. From 2019 onwards, cloud was introduced in Infor LN. That is when we also adopted Infor CloudSuite deployment. I completed the certification and adopted cloud suite related topics and deployment methodology. From 2019 precisely, we started cloud implementations.
Regarding the project management feature and the module, manufacturing projects are like engineering to order or make to order. For those kinds of environments and manufacturing facilities, there is a specific module called manufacturing projects where the system separates normal anonymous items from project-specific items which can be dedicated to a specific customer so that inventory can be tracked and transactions can be tracked. From the item level itself, you can have traceability and differentiation from the anonymous item, which is a make to stock item, to a make to order item like manufacturing for a specific project. If the same standard item is being produced for a specific customer with their design, we can differentiate through a project. The functionality is very strong. We can have separate planning for that, module planning, and dashboards related to the projects. Manufacturing projects help customers in segregating inventory and monitoring projects separately. The functionality is strong in that area.
I do not have much information about pricing and licensing because although I come from an implementation background as a channel partner consultant, I do not directly know how much Infor is charging, and that will also change depending on the bundle of licenses being acquired. If I have to talk about a specific price that I know, I think it is not very expensive or very economical. It is standing in between. It is a moderate or medium level range.
If a vanilla implementation is undertaken, meaning if there are no customizations and the customer is willing to adopt the core functionalities that Infor is offering, then it will not take more than four months. Starting from the initiation to the go-live, the implementation can be concluded within four months.
For the deployment process, if I consider a normal manufacturing company where purchase, sale, finance, service, and quality are involved, these are the basic modules that any manufacturing company has. A manufacturing consultant, logistics consultant, finance consultant, and a technical consultant are needed. An admin is not really required, but an admin and a technical consultant would be beneficial. Five to six people with a project manager, so a total team of six members, I think will suffice.
Infor could improve the help that is within the application. Help is there in the form of a help button or help page for each field, but it should be more informative. The help is there, but it is not as informative as it could be. For example, if a new user is accessing the help, the information is consultant-centric rather than user-centric. I would rate the Infor help within the application at a six. I am not talking about the support that Infor provides when we face any issues.
I would rate my overall experience with Infor LN as a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)