Posts by Ronn Breaux
From Spreadsheet Chaos to Systematic Success: The Universal Challenge Across Industries
Walk into any professional services organization—whether it’s a clinical research company, an engineering firm, a marketing agency, or a technology consulting firm—and you’ll likely find the same scene: teams managing complex, multi-million-dollar projects using sprawling Excel workbooks filled with interconnected tabs, formulas, and manual processes that have evolved over years. This isn’t a technology problem—it’s…
Read MoreThe Financial Blind Spot: Why Professional Services Need Unified Project and Financial Systems
It’s day 12 of the monthly close, and your finance team is still manually reconciling project data with invoices. Sound familiar? Your project managers swear the ABC Corp implementation is profitable, but your financial reports tell a different story. Meanwhile, your CFO is asking why the executive dashboard shows three different versions of project profitability—none…
Read MoreBeyond Spreadsheets: Evolving Your Project Management Maturity with Integrated PSA
Introduction: The Spreadsheet Dilemma After 20 years of implementing SuiteProjects Pro (formerly OpenAir) for professional services organizations of all sizes, I’ve witnessed a common pattern. Many organizations continue to manage their project portfolios using a patchwork of disconnected spreadsheets, emails, and disparate tools. This approach might work when you’re small, but as organizations grow, these…
Read MoreEliminating Data Silos: The Key to Project Profitability with SuiteProjects Pro PSA
The Silent Profit Killer in Professional Services Recent studies reveal that professional services organizations lose an average of 20% of potential profitability due to disconnected systems and processes. In my two decades working with services firms, we’ve seen firsthand how these “data silos” quietly drain profits while teams work harder than ever. Data silos—isolated information…
Read MorePSO Excellence: The Evolving Project Management Landscape
As professional services organizations seek greater efficiency and competitive advantage, project management practices continue to evolve. The emergence of AI technologies presents both opportunities and questions for PS leaders committed to operational excellence. At Top Step, we work with hundreds of professional services organizations implementing Professional Services Automation (PSA) solutions. Across our client base, two…
Read MoreMaximizing Value from Mature Resource Management: Strategies for PSO Leaders
As professional services organizations advance their resource management capabilities, a new challenge emerges: how to maximize the value of these enhanced practices. Recent industry research reveals that organizations with mature resource management practices achieve 30% higher profitability than their peers, but this success doesn’t happen automatically. It requires careful attention to critical success factors, thoughtful…
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