Dynamo - it's more than just a CRM!
Pros
We implemented Dynamo after years of our growing team being unable to 'find our stuff' on a network drive full of hundreds of folders that were poorly organized, named or maintained. Our team decided to start looking for a system to organize our data. That search started as a CRM system search and then evolved as we completed searches and demos to explore also portfolio management and reporting. Our reporting had solely been excel based and with significant history to store, we were tasking excel to serve essentially as a database. With each system/vendor we reviewed, the more capabilities we started to consider. Dynamo was appealing as it served to answer a number of challenges we were facing and because it was integrated, we weren't trying to fit a bunch of different systems/software together to make everything work nicely together.
Cons
Initially the reporting was less robust. This has changed dramatically and the reporting and dashboards are robust and dynamic. The shift from Tableau reporting to Power BI has really improved the quality of reporting.
Best LP Platform and Data Service Offering
We really enjoy working with the Dynamo team. The team is very forward thinking and service oriented. We have collaborated with Dynamo a lot to build new features and functionality with the system. The team always communicates deadlines and assists in any way possible with implementation.
Pros
Dynamo Software is a one stop solution for LPs. It has a great CRM platform as well as a fantastic portfolio management solution. You don't need to worry about connecting two systems together.
Cons
Dynamo did not have a connector to administrators such as State Street. However, we worked with Dynamo to build a file transfer and now cash transactions and reconciliations with our administrator are automated.
Dynamo/Preqin Review
Customer support has been great. There is room to improve on ease of customization by the user, as well as, data upload alternatives to Excel. Customization on next iteration looks interesting .
Pros
Centralized database. Designed to be the single source of truth on financials.
Cons
Difficulty in making changes to the excel upload template (customer support needed). Limited UI flexibility. Excel input to database.
I used Dynamo at a previous employer and liked it so much I implemented it at GMF.
Pros
I have used a few CRMs throughout my career and Dynamo is the most user friendly and easily customizable of the lot. Being able to create fields and views without having to submit service tickets is immensely valuable in a rapidly growing business. I have been able to build our Dynamo tenant to most accurately reflect our unique business model instead of shoehorning into a preset box.
Cons
Our business model employs a significant number of transfers within and across entities. This has been my biggest pain point as the transfer process continues to change. I would love to have a process by which we could transfer from Investor Account A in Fund X to Investor Account B in Fund Y in a single step.
Product review
Our experience with Dynamo has been exceptional. [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] did a great job onboarding us and building some finds or reports on his own. The continued support has also been exceptional. It is nice to know that if we need help there is a team at Dynamo to continue with the help and support we need.
Pros
There are several easy ways to get data in. Manual entry is easy and not time consuming. I love the many different ways data can be loaded into the database.
Cons
We are a firm that has clients with a lot of Transfers of Interest. This and the commitment/ownership are my biggest issues with the software. I would also say while it is my least favorite it is still way easier than our old system.
Review
Pros
The team was already using Dynamo when I came on. I find it easy to use. I can easily organize all fund and manager information into one place so I can easily find it.
Cons
It's small, but when I search for things, it always takes a few seconds to load the drop-down menu to select what I'm looking for. The AI add-in is frustrating because it will auto-relate entities that are not related to the activity I'm saving. For example, if the notes in the body of an activity mention something generic like a Bloomberg Barclays Index, it will auto-relate every contact in the system from both Bloomberg and Barclays even though the notes are not about either Bloomberg or Barclays.
Dynamo Review 5/14/20
Pros
Ease of use; ability to customize; dedicated client specialist
Cons
Compatibility of add-ins has been an issue in the past
I Wouldn't Leave Home Without It
Overall, they are a fantastic company to work with. The support team, although based in Bulgaria, for the most part responds as though they were in the USA. We have been long time customers and grown along with Dynamo. The experience has been great.
Pros
Its cloud based architecture, coupled with intuitive design makes this a fantastic product for our needs.
Cons
It would be great if the product introduced a 'recycle bin' so any entities accidentally deleted could be easily restored.
Our overall Dynamo experience has collaborative. We staged our implementation in phases starting with CRM first. We continue to deploy more & more features, explore modules and are constantly considering better ways to do our day to day tasks. Dynamo support has been good whether tackling our questions about best practices, helping to guide us on new features, provide training or answering our what if or how to questions. We have experienced good dialogue and partnership in addressing our concerns.