Microsoft Dynamics für die Medien- und Unterhaltungsbranche

Immer am Puls der Zeit – mit den Branchenlösungen von Microsoft Dynamics für die Medien- und Unterhaltungsbranche

Der Siegeszug des Internets hat die Medienbranche nachhaltig verändert: In Medien, Unterhaltung und Kultur hat die Digitalisierung von Inhalten neue Märkte hervorgebracht, und zu bekannten Formaten sind neue hinzugetreten, z. B. die Vielzahl von Onlineportalen und Blogs. Aller bisherigen Schwarzmalerei zum Trotz kann von einem Untergang der klassischen Medien keine Rede sein. Ganz im Gegenteil: Heute existieren ähnliche Informationsangebote nebeneinander auf unterschiedlichen Kanälen, die alle ganz eigene Marktchancen und Umsatzpotenziale bieten. Hier auf unseren Internetseiten für die Medien- und Unterhaltungsbranche finden Sie praxisorientierte Informationen zu Markttrends und technischen Entwicklungen sowie Branchenlösungen von Microsoft Dynamics-Partnern.

Mit Branchenlösungen von Microsoft Dynamics decken Sie die Geschäftsanforderungen Ihres Unternehmens in der Medien- und Unterhaltungsbranche ab. Ihre besonderen Vorteile: Sie erhalten eine maßgeschneiderte Software und profitieren von dem Know-how unserer Partner, die sich auf Ihre Branche spezialisiert haben.

Mehrfachverwertung von Content: Wie sich mit denselben Ressourcen mehr Gewinn erwirtschaften lässt

Ein Buch ist mehr als nur ein Buch. Ein Artikel ist mehr als nur ein Artikel. Beide Produkte stellen im Grunde genommen lediglich verschiedene Formen der Verwertung dar. Die Ressource eines Verlags ist deshalb nicht das Buch oder der Artikel. Grundmaterial ist der Inhalt oder neudeutsch Content. Es ist die Aufgabe der Verlage zu entscheiden, welches Produkt aus dem „eingekauften“ Inhalt entstehen soll.

Den vielschichtigen Wert der Ressource Content haben viele Medienunternehmen in den vergangenen Jahren erkannt. Konsequenterweise setzen sie deshalb auf die Mehrfachverwertung und verbessern somit ihre Wertschöpfung. Konzentrierten sich Buchverlage früher nur auf die Vermarktung von Büchern, setzen viele den Inhalt heute neu in Form von Hörbüchern um und erschließen sich damit einen neuen Markt. Fachverlage publizieren Artikel nicht mehr nur in einer Zeitschrift, sondern setzen auf eine Zweitverwertung in anderen verlagsinternen Magazinen oder komponieren aus bereits veröffentlichten Inhalten Dossiers und Themenhefte. Nicht zuletzt spielt die Veröffentlichung von Inhalten wie Nachrichten, Artikel oder Bücher als E-Books im Internet eine zunehmend wichtige Rolle.

Dabei geht es nicht nur um den Verkauf von Content an Endkonsumenten, sondern auch um den Handel zwischen Unternehmen. So stellten Mitarbeiter des Beratungsunternehmens PricewaterhouseCoopers schon 2001 in einer Untersuchung fest, dass Medienunternehmen, die sich an diesem Geschäftsmodell des B2B-Handels (Business to Business) nicht beteiligen, „in Zukunft empfindliche Rückgänge bei den Umsatzerlösen verzeichnen werden“. Ohne IT-gestützte Verwaltung und Erfassung der Inhalte und Arbeitsprozesse kann die Verlags- und Medienwelt die sich bietenden Möglichkeiten nicht oder nur rudimentär nutzen. „Klassische Medienunternehmen […] müssen ihre Produktionsabläufe von Grund auf umstellen“, schrieben die Marktforscher von PricewaterhouseCoopers den Verlagen ins Stammbuch.

Content und Unternehmenswerte gemeinsam managen

Die Unterstützung durch Content-Management-Systeme zur Katalogisierung, Verwaltung und Bearbeitung von Inhalten sowie ein System zum Management von Urheber- und Verwertungsrechten sind nur Teilaspekte dieser angemahnten Umstellung. „Um Content profitabel mehrfach zu verwerten, muss man die betreffenden Kosten ermitteln und die erbrachten Leistungen auch berechnen können“, gibt Knut Nicholas Krause, Geschäftsführer der knk Business Software AG, zu bedenken. Sein Unternehmen vertreibt eine auf das Verlags- und Medienwesen zugeschnittene Branchenlösung auf Basis von Microsoft Dynamics. „Nur wenn das verwendete ERP-System verschiedene Verwertungsformen abrechnen kann, realisieren die Verantwortlichen die Chancen, die sich aus einer Weiterverwertung der vorliegenden Inhalte ergeben und bauen neue Geschäftsmodelle auf“, sagt Krause. „Haben die Verlage oder Medienhäuser kein automatisiertes System, das die Kosten des redaktionellen Einkaufs und der Content-‚Schöpfung‘ erfasst und das alle Vermarktungswege unterstützt, müssen sie die Kosten und Erlöse nachträglich von Hand berechnen. Das ist umständlich und führt oftmals zu Fehlkalkulationen, aber auch zu Widerständen bei den damit belasteten Mitarbeitern. Dann kann Mehrfachverwertung – statt Zusatzeinnahmen zu erschließen – schnell unprofitabel werden.“

Im Idealfall setzen die Contentanbieter auf eine kombinierte Lösung aus Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) und einem Content-Management-System (CMS). Das Content-Management-System erlaubt die schnelle und effiziente Umwandlung der Inhalte in das benötigte Format, die dabei stets an einer einzigen Stelle gespeichert werden. Das ERP-System ermittelt nicht nur die genauen angefallenen Kosten und Erlöse für die Inhalte und erstellt die zugehörigen Nachfragebilanzen, sondern liefert auch weitere professionelle Werkzeuge für die Vermarktung, z. B. Funktionen für Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

Auch kleinere Verlage, die sich ein CMS nicht leisten können, sollten nicht auf ein ERP-System verzichten. „Nur mit einem ERP-System kann man auch Marktnischen erschließen, weil man damit jederzeit weiß, was das kostet und wo und wie Gewinne entstehen“, resümiert knk-Geschäftsführer Krause.

 

www.pargesoft.com Microsoft Dynamics ERP Global Partner

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 - Panoramica

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 è una soluzione di gestione aziendale integrata e flessibile, in grado di agevolare i processi decisionali nelle organizzazioni di medie e grandi dimensioni.

Fondato su basi tecnologicamente avanzate e di provata efficacia, Microsoft Dynamics AX presenta unfunzionamento analogo a quello di software Microsoft già noto agli utenti come Microsoft Office System, con cui è completamente integrato. Assicura pertanto una curva di apprendimento estremamente ridotta che consente al personale di essere immediatamente operativo e di concentrarsi sugli obiettivi aziendali.

Con l’automazione e la semplificazione delle attività finanziarie, delle relazioni con i clienti e dei processi della supply chain, Microsoft Dynamics AX unisce persone, processi e informazioni, indipendentemente dalla loro posizione, accrescendo la produttività, l’efficienza e consentendo ai dipendenti di guidare l’azienda al successo.

Aiuta le persone a lavorare meglio

Nel mondo degli affari, la produttività e l'efficacia del singolo influiscono direttamente sui profitti. Fornisci ai collaboratori strumenti familiari e semplici che consentono di lavorare efficacemente e prendere decisioni con quella celerità che l’impresa moderna richiede.

• Consenti al personale di concentrarsi sulle attività di business, piuttosto che sull'apprendimento delle nuove applicazioni, con una soluzione che richiama come interfaccia e funzioni l'esperienza utente degli altri prodotti Microsoft.

• Lavora in modo efficace con il Role Center, un'interfaccia utente ottimizzata in base ai ruoli aziendali che aiuta i collaboratori a organizzare, assegnare priorità e accedere ad attività e informazioni, tutto da un'unica finestra.

• Espandi le capacità decisionali con strumenti automatici di Business Intelligence e reporting, che aiutano il personale ad analizzare i dati attraverso indicatori KPI dashboard, Microsoft Office Excel, Business Analytics in Microsoft Dynamics AX e Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007.

• Consenti ai collaboratori di interagire con i dati e le informazioni presenti in Microsoft Dynamics AX,direttamente dalle applicazioni di Microsoft Office.

• Facilita la comunicazione con dipendenti, clienti e partner, utilizzando strumenti di comunicazione e collaborazione grazie all'integrazione con Microsoft Unified Communications.

L'interfaccia utente rende Microsoft Dynamics AX semplice da usare: i centri gestione ruolo aiutano i collaboratori ad assegnare le priorità al proprio lavoro e acquisire una migliore comprensione delle informazioni rilevanti.

Trasforma i cambiamenti in opportunità

Per tenere il passo della concorrenza, le aziende sono chiamate a espandersi in nuovi paesi, a lanciare nuovi prodotti e servizi e potenziare i punti di forza dell'attività attraverso fusioni e acquisizioni. Con Microsoft Dynamics AX, è possibile gestire con successo la crescita e il cambiamento, creando rapporti redditizi all'interno della supply chain e adattando rapidamente i processi interni per rispondere ai cambiamenti della domanda.

• Microsoft Dynamics AX offre un'architettura orientata ai servizi, stretta integrazione con le tecnologie Microsoft e Web Services in grado di supportare scenari commerciali complessi tipicamente gestiti da aziende che operano in contesti internazionali.

• Automatizza la collaborazione all’interno della supply chain e lo scambio di documenti con i diversi partner grazie a Microsoft BizTalk Server e a Microsoft Office.

• Crea e modifica rapidamente flussi di lavoro personalizzati per trarre vantaggio da nuove opportunità e adattarsi velocemente ai requisiti del settore e dei clienti, in costante cambiamento.

• Adatta la soluzione alle modalità di lavoro dell'azienda (non il contrario)

• Soddisfa esigenze altamente specializzate tipiche del tuo settore con Microsoft Dynamics AX Industry Solutions (in inglese) o o soluzioni ad hoc realizzate dai Partner Microsoft Dynamics.

• Grazie ad un sistema di licensing (in inglese) flessibile puoi scegliere il package più adatto alle tue esigenze attuali e aggiungere nuove funzionalità nel tempo.

• Capitalizza gli investimenti attuali in servizi e tecnologia Microsoft per contribuire a garantire un ridotto time-to-benefit.

Mettiti in gioco, a livello mondiale

Oggi per gestire un business globale o l'espansione oltre i confini nazionali verso nuove sedi o succursali, le opportunità commerciali possono comportare un allargamento della base clienti.
Microsoft Dynamics AX è progettato per gestire la complessità di un'azienda globale consolidando e standardizzando i processi e fornendo visibilità nell'intera organizzazione.

• Semplifica l'espansione oltre i confini nazionali grazie alle specifiche localizzazioni, che consentono di utilizzare più lingue e valute e la conformità ai requisiti normativi locali per oltre 36 paesi.

• Consolida i dati finanziari, operativi e dei clienti a livello di gruppo sia per costruire un vantaggio strategico che per migliorare i rapporti con clienti, partner e fornitori.

• Uniforma gli standard per contribuire a garantire la qualità centralizzando i processi, condividendo le inziative di successo e ampliando la gestione della supply chain a più sedi e divisioni.

• Gestisci e controlla le KPI globali e locali con strumenti di reporting e analisi sofisticati e intuitivi. Combina la soluzione con applicazioni di Business Intelligence per potenziare le capacità analitiche essenziali a gestire un ambiente aziendale complesso.

• Fornisci al personale accesso in tempo reale a indicatori KPI, scorecard e dati attraverso l'Enterprise Portal in Microsoft Dynamics AX. E con PerformancePoint Server o Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, i responsabili delle decisioni chiave possono lavorare con informazioni critiche, senza effettuare l'accesso a Microsoft Dynamics AX.

• Gestisci il deployment in modo efficiente e uniforme con Microsoft Dynamics Sure Step, una metodologia standard e globale che semplifica i processi di implementazione e aggiornamento.

 

Garantisci il rispetto delle regole

Le aziende devono adempiere a una miriade di requisiti normativi che variano notevolmente a seconda del paese e della regione. Microsoft Dynamics AX può contribuire a ridurre il rischio e le responsabilità legate alla corporate governance, alla conformità normativa e alle iniziative per clienti.

• Risparmia tempo e fatica con procedure che attuano e potenziano i controlli sulla base di scenari specifici di rischio e conformità

• Aiuta a garantire il rispetto delle policy con processi standardizzati e ripetibili, in grado di aggregare in modo affidabile i dati sulla conformità.

• Trasforma i cambiamenti in opportunità, supportando iniziative per clienti (comprese strategie ecologiche e di catena logistica RFID) con funzionalità che riducono gli scarti di produzione e promuovono la sostenibilità ambientale

• Centralizza e condividi la corporate governance con il Compliance Center, uno strumento integrato per la gestione delle policy, documenti di processo e reporting.

• Mantieni uno stretto controllo sulle attività con strumenti di business intelligence che monitorano le modifiche interne, per rispondere rapidamente alle richieste di informazioni specifiche

• Riduci i costi e l'incertezza nella protezione dei dati aziendali. Utilizza le funzionalità di protezione integrate in Microsoft Dynamics AX nell'infrastruttura IT dell'azienda

www.pargesoft.com Microsoft Dynamics AX Global Partner

Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Professional Services

Get tools to boost your success, whether your firm is in IT, advertising, legal, accounting, engineering, real estate, or another professional service.

- Improve your operations with a 360-degree view of your customers.
- Optimize the client management life cycle to drive more business.
- Gain deeper insights into your business to attract and retain more customers.
- Use the application development platform components to quickly develop custom solutions, such as asset management.
- Use the xRM framework to develop and deploy easy-to-use applications that improve knowledge management, service delivery, and the client experience.

Project Management

Manage projects more efficiently with the ability to track, monitor, and get highly detailed information about each project, activity, and task. With a comprehensive view of your customers and streamlined processes, it’s easier to complete projects on time and within budget.

- Deliver real-time views of client information across the enterprise, so everyone is working from the same data.
- Track activities, tasks, and expenditures and associate them with specific projects.
- Create personal, workgroup, departmental, or federated workflows with a handy wizard.
- Automatically assign activities to specific individuals or groups and use rules-based escalation to address issues in a timely way.
- Provide project administrators with dashboards to view project status at a glance.

Resource Management

Maintain up-to-date information about resources and their availability and provide that information to your staff. With the ability to integrate your CRM data with existing systems, you get the data you need to quickly address changes and stay within time and budget requirements.

- Get a centralized view of staff calendars and resources to make scheduling easier.
- Save time with simplified visual scheduling of both people and resources.
- Gain increased visibility into how well current scheduling and resource allocation are meeting your company goals.
- Set up a catalog of your services to track sales, incidents, and contracts and proactively identify issues.

Customer Management

Create strong customer relationships that help build repeat business and loyalty. With each new project, you can add to a knowledge base that you will be able to tap for future projects. As you become more customer-centric, you can improve profitability and customer service to gain a competitive edge.

- Manage and track all customer-facing activities.
- Identify trends and provide personalized service with access to real-time, actionable data.
- Use shared document repositories to improve the quality and efficiency of organizing teams, meetings, and deliverables.
- Take advantage of document version controls to accelerate approval workflows and deliver better service.
- Benefit from advanced security that helps protect client and firm data.

www.pargesoft.com Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner

Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Government

 CRM for Government

State and local government and federal agencies can serve citizens and businesses more effectively with Microsoft Dynamics CRM services for government. Your organization can:

- Deliver timely, high-quality service that focuses on citizens’ needs. - Automate processes to improve efficiency and reduce costs. - Use technology to support collaboration and decision making across departments and agencies. - Rapidly deliver e-government, citizen service, and other government applications with the xRM framework

Business Intelligence

With access to real-time information and analysis, government agencies or organizations can use CRM tools to identify trends, evaluate citizen interactions with departments and agencies, and create strategies to enhance service and—at the same time—reduce costs.

- Capture and track data to respond quickly to changing constituent needs and legislative requirements. - Perform critical trend analysis based on real-time information. - Give administrators a real-time graphical view of organizational performance—from their desktops or mobile devices—with the ability to drill deeply into details.

Case Management

Social service agencies and related organizations are faced with growing caseloads and shrinking budgets. Microsoft Dynamics CRM case management tools help your agency increase its efficiency and reduce costs with streamlined processes and greater access to your critical data—all in one place.

- Centralized client records to remove the barriers to cross-agency collaboration. - Use automatic workflows to increase employee effectiveness. - Easily schedule follow-up appointments and use alerts for proactive notification. - Provide mobile access to constituent and case information, so workers in the field can be more productive.

Contact Center/311

Improve citizens’ ability to contact your agency—and your agency’s response time—with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Contact Center/311 solution for call center, routing, and CRM integration. The faster your response, the greater value your agency can deliver to the communities you serve.

-Use electronic tools, such as interactive voice response (IVR) in combination with contact-center agents to speed issue resolution of phone inquiries. - Give knowledge workers the ability to work within Microsoft Office Outlook to review prior contacts and update records when responding to e-mail requests. -  Take advantage of a reporting dashboard to sort and report incidents by contact type (Web, phone, or e-mail) or by case type, case severity, or other key data to help ensure timely service.

Constituent Management

Managing your constituents’ interactions with your organization is critical to your effectiveness. Because Microsoft Dynamics CRM looks and acts like an extension of Microsoft Office Outlook, your employees will find it easy to use, so they can respond quickly to citizen needs.

- Provide highly secure, role-based access to constituent data. - Give employees relevant constituent information from one, centralized location. - Track constituent inquiries and requests, regardless of channel. - Target key messages to specific audiences and within specific geographic areas. - Automate workflows to improve service. - Get powerful analysis and reporting tools to simplify the identification of needs and problems and proactively address them.

Field Inspection

Microsoft Dynamics CRM helps personnel work from almost anywhere with highly secure access to constituent data and case management capabilities. They can gather site information, including photography, and resolve issues quickly with a history of an individual’s agency interactions.

- Give field personnel the ability to track applications, licensing, permits, and other relevant data from remote sites. - Collect, compile, and organize data from the field or remote offices and then synchronize it with other organizational software. - Automate code enforcement at various levels of government. - Integrate with geographic information systems such as Microsoft Virtual Earth and ESRI to display case information on maps.

Funds Management

Federal, state, and local agencies and educational institutions can simplify funds management—from acquisition to expenditure—with the Microsoft Stimulus360 solution. By manipulating data from various sources in a highly secure environment, it’s easier to analyze the results of funded programs.

- Track key performance indicators (KPIs)—such as job creation by city, county, and state—as well as related metrics, to determine the effects of funding. - Visualize data in rich KPI dashboards and interactive maps. - Use pre-populated content including legislative and regulatory links, report templates, and newsfeeds. - Improve governance and transparency through automatic capture of actions in a workflow history.

Grants Management

Today, many government agencies find it challenging to manage the approval, distribution, and tracking of grants with fewer personnel and limited resources. With Microsoft Dynamics CRM, however, you can streamline your grant management tasks to stay on time and within budget.

- Set up a standardized, electronic system that simplifies grant processing and helps ensure compliance with legislative directives. - Easily process and track payments through transparent integration with your back-end financial systems. - Automatically send notifications for grant-application status changes to replace time-consuming manual processes. - Generate task lists automatically for each stage of the grant process. - Evaluate and track solicitations so that distributions are awarded to the most-deserving applicants. - Work from within Microsoft Office Outlook for ease of use and productivity.

Personnel Management

Because your employees put your organization’s mission into action, effective personnel management is vital to your success. Microsoft Dynamics CRM helps ensure that your staff have the training and support they need, and that your organization’s human resources are efficiently deployed.

- Manage personnel, mission, budgeting, acquisition, inventory, training, public affairs, cases, and multiple business applications. - Provide offline data access and mobility options that help employees stay up-to-date and keep projects moving even when they are away from the office. - Get powerful reporting and analysis tools that make it easy to manage cases and identify problems at a glance. - Create automated workflows for personnel processes to reduce administrative tasks. - Help secure your data with by defining levels of access to applications and data, based on job roles.

Task Management

Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers both a powerful and flexible way to manage tasks and processes. At a time when managing government operations is more complex than ever, Microsoft Dynamics CRM gives you the ability to manage diverse tasks with fewer resources in less time.

- Automate manual processes for such areas as logistics, personnel evaluations, information requests, and awards and decorations. - Give authorized personnel visibility into all data appropriate to their roles. - Maintain an easy-to-follow audit trail that demonstrates accountability from beginning to end. - Create consistent processes and quality standards to improve workflows. - Get advanced reporting metrics for deeper data analysis.

Correspondence Management

New economic stimulus programs are placing added pressures on government agencies to be more accountable and transparent in their actions. At the same time, these agencies are expected to be more efficient with smaller budgets and less resources. Customizable solutions built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM that address some of your most pressing needs will get you on the road to improved accountability, transparency, and efficiency in a hurry. Allowing your agency or department to get a 360 degree view of all the organizations and individuals with whom you connect is critical for governmental organizations.

- Keep track of addresses, activities and correspondence around contacts. - Use powerful search tools to quickly find the information you want. - Build Ad-hoc reports around your organizational activities. - Everything you need to manage relationships with those both inside and outside of your organization available in one secure place

Composite Case Study: CRM in Local Governments

http://www.pargesoft.com/ Microsoft Dynamics ERP Global Partner

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Customer Videos

Dixon Hughes Accounting Firm

Dixon Hughes is an accounting firm that uses Microsoft Dynamics CRM to track its customers and prospects.
 



http://www.pargesoft.com/ Microsoft Dynamics AX / NAV / CRM Global Partner

Microsoft Dynamics CRM

CH2M Hill president and EVP Mark Lasswell talks about CH2M Hill's selection of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. This video illustrates CH2M Hill's business drivers and highlights the cost-effectiveness of Microsoft Dynamics CRM vs. Salesforce.com. Join and see why CH2M Hill projected that Microsoft Dynamics CRM would cost CH2M Hill a fraction - only 25% - of Salesforce.com.

http://www.pargesoft.com/ Microsoft Dynamics CRM Global Partner

Microsoft Dynamics: soluzioni gestionali per l'azienda

Le soluzioni software per il business cercano, sempre più, di offrire funzionalità avanzate ed elevata flessibilità a costi contenuti: questo è ciò che chiedono le aziende e questo è l’obiettivo di Microsoft nello sviluppo di nuovi applicativi software per le imprese. Il portafoglio di prodotti per le aziende, Microsoft Dynamics, assicura questo tipo flessibilità colmando il gap tra il mondo del software collaborativo e il mondo transazionale delle applicazioni aziendali.
Sei scenari di innovazione
Il software gestionale Microsoft ha l’obiettivo di rispecchiare il modello di business delle aziende, grazie a una progettazione delle applicazioni incentrata sulle persone e i processi per adattare il software in modo semplice e conveniente quando si verificano cambiamenti nell’organizzazione o nei processi di business.
La progettazione delle applicazioni Microsoft Dynamics è basata su sei grandi temi:

Maggiore controllo per gli utenti. La completa integrazione tra la piattaforma Microsoft e le applicazioni di gestione aziendale garantisce ai dipendenti più tempo per concentrarsi sulle attività strategiche per cui non è necessario l’utilizzo di software. Un’applicazione aziendale efficace deve supportare in modo integrato i processi e le diverse tipologie di attività che ne dipendono. Le informazioni di business acquisite tramite questi programmi si integrano completamente con le applicazioni per la produttività personale, consentendo a team e dipendenti di creare con la massima facilità report, preventivi e fogli di lavoro utili e accurati.

Supporto alla capacità decisionale.
L’esigenza espressa più di frequente dagli utenti di applicazioni aziendali è quella di ottenere le informazioni giuste al momento giusto. L’impegno di Microsoft è offrire applicazioni in grado di supportare la capacità decisionale per tutti gli utenti, indipendentemente dal ruolo che svolgono in azienda. L’identificazione delle informazioni che non rientrano nelle soglie preimpostate consente agli utenti di lavorare in modo più efficace.

Connettività.
Le aziende devono poter eseguire transazioni in formato elettronico con i propri clienti e fornitori in modo efficiente, personalizzato e conveniente. Il settore del software sta manifestando un grande interesse nei confronti degli standard emergenti per i Web service, un insieme di tecnologie per lo scambio di documenti in formato elettronico e l’integrazione delle applicazioni via Internet. Per le applicazioni aziendali questo significa principalmente scambio di dati tra sistemi eterogenei.

Processi adattivi.
Le aziende richiedono soluzioni progettate in base a processi adattivi, che siano in grado di cambiare ed evolversi di pari passo con le attività di business. Questi processi includono un approccio basato su modelli in cui il comportamento del sistema è determinato da metadati centralizzati, strumenti di modellazione visiva, un motore per il coordinamento dei processi e una logica applicativa implementata in componenti configurabili.

Costo di gestione dei sistemi.
Le organizzazioni chiedono soluzioni caratterizzate da un Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) ben definito, che renda semplici e convenienti la valutazione, l’acquisto, la configurazione, lo sviluppo e la manutenzione del sistema. Tutte queste fasi devono risultare parte integrante del prodotto. L’applicazione richiede caratteristiche di “riconfigurabilità gestibile” che permettano di conservare le personalizzazioni anche dopo l’installazione degli ultimi service pack e aggiornamenti del sistema.

Certezze sui “fondamentali”.
Le aziende si aspettano che i propri sistemi abbiano caratteristiche mission-critical, che siano operativi 24 ore su 24, oltre a facilmente personalizzabili e configurabili. Inoltre, soprattutto le piccole e medie aziende, si aspettano che la potenza delle applicazioni aziendali non implichi un ulteriore livello di complessità e la necessità di dedicare un team alla loro manutenzione.

http://www.pargesoft.com/ Microsoft Dynamics ERP Global Partner

Technorati Etiketleri: Microsoft Dynamics: soluzioni gestionali per l'azienda, Sei scenari di innovazione, Maggiore controllo per gli utenti, Connettività, Fondamentali, Processi adattivi, IT

Microsoft Dynamics CRM – Social Networking

Social Networking for Sales Social networking also promises significant benefits for sales organizations by providing them with new ways to find, connect with, and understand their customers. Despite the opportunities, some uncertainty remains towards social networking in many sales organizations. Cautious or more established salespeople may view social networking as an unproven channel that takes them away from “core sales activities.” But for every hesitant salesperson there is a hungry and resourceful one that is looking for the next competitive advantage. Increasingly, sales organizations are realizing the benefits of incorporating social networking into their traditional sales processes.

Find and connect with new prospects In sales the hunt is always on for the next deal, and social networks provide a rich prospecting resource. Unlike traditional channels, social networks provide the added benefit of allowing a salesperson to gauge a prospect’s interest through their online profile before communication is initiated. For example, if done respectfully and in accordance with the terms of service for each social networking site used, prospects will often be more receptive when approached informally or through a common contact on a relevant subject than they would to a cold call. The Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides key capabilities to help sales organizations gauge interest and find prospects by:

- Tapping into social networking contacts to jumpstart “warm” lead generation efforts.

- Identifying prospects by focusing on conversations and topics relevant to the product or service.

- Better measuring the online influence of each contact based on follower counts and postings.

- Leveraging online career information to better understand the contact or decision maker.

Engage in more meaningful conversations While they will not replace traditional relationship-building activities, social networks do provide sales organizations with a new tool to build and enhance relationships with prospects or customers. With the ability to quickly identify and integrate key online data points with the main customer data repository, salespeople can engage prospects and customers with all the relevant information at their fingertips. The Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help sales organizations engage in more relevant conversations by:

- Engaging in online discussions with prospects and customers right within the core sales force automation solution.

- Viewing social networking conversation history within the customer system of record.

- Instantly seeing a social networking profile for each contact for a more holistic customer view.

- Effortlessly creating new contacts in Microsoft Dynamics CRM from social networking contacts.

- Easily creating an opportunity in Microsoft Dynamics CRM directly from social networking sites.

Better understand your customers Social networking sites can also provide a wealth of information about customers and their interests, lifestyles, and attitudes–data that might otherwise be difficult or impossible to acquire. Paired with the right analysis capabilities, publicly available customer data from social networking sites can provide an additional layer of insight into customer preferences, behaviors, and sentiment, which can lead to more successful sales interactions.

The Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help sales organizations better understand customer attitudes and interests by:

- Leveraging interests and discussion threads for more relevant conversations.

- Sorting incoming messages by account, status, and other criteria for greater relevancy.

- Analyzing interests and discussion threads to hone in on key trends.

- Better tracking relevant professional events such as job changes and promotions.

- Leveraging out-of-box reports to identify chief online champions and influencers.

Social Networking for Customer Service Increasingly, customers are using social networks as an important channel to find, receive, and communicate information about the products and services they use. This change in customer behavior creates both opportunities and challenges for customer service organizations. Social customers expect service delivered through their channel of choice, often with a personal touch. And they are certainly not afraid to express their views or displeasure. Social networks provide a rich source of unfiltered feedback and a dialogue that can be invaluable in identifying service issues and spotting opportunities for product improvement. Thus, used correctly, social networking channels can help customer service organizations be more effective and create value for the business. In addition, social networks provide an interaction channel that not only helps remove perceived barriers between customers and companies, but may also reduce the cost of service. However, when all is said and done, social networking is another communication channel and something that should not be done in a vacuum. It needs to be embedded in the everyday processes of customer service organizations and delivered in a consistent manner for the true benefits to be realized.

Create an early warning system for product issues

One often mentioned observation about social customers is that they aren’t shy about sharing their experiences online. Tracked and harnessed, these opinions and views can provide a valuable early warning system for organizations and help them identify emerging problems or zero in on the top issues for a particular product. The Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help customer service organizations better monitor and identify customer issues within Microsoft Dynamics CRM by:

- Proactively monitoring social networks for key words, complaints, and issues relating to a brand.

- Monitoring chronic complainers to identify top potential service issues.

- Seeing social networking conversation history right within the customer system of record.

- Tracking the number of influencers and followers of a given topic or issue.

Provide efficient multi-channel service By the very nature of its opt-in and shared interest structure, social networking can help customer service organizations address customer issues in a highly efficient manner. As these customers turn to social networking sites for help, organizations have the opportunity to help them en masse, for example, by posting information in relevant communities or providing self-help capabilities through the Web. This in turn can reduce call volumes and has the additional benefit of increasing satisfaction among the growing mass of customers who expect this kind of service. A report by DMG Consulting, a leading call center consultancy, shows new and emerging channels can help service organizations increase service coverage and reduce call volumes at a relatively moderate cost (Fluss, 2009).

The Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help service organizations better address customer needs by:

- Making knowledge base articles publicly searchable so savvy customers can find information themselves without burdening the contact center.

- Addressing new issues by posting a response online quickly and automatically tracking responses.

- Leveraging the power of community-driven support as an additional channel.

- Instantly creating a case in Microsoft Dynamics CRM from online conversations and addressing the case through an established problem resolution process.

Tap into new feedback channels Social networking sites enable organizations to track service issues in more places, thereby gathering more intelligence on their products and on customer experiences with them. With social networking, customer service organizations have an opportunity to leverage unfiltered feedback to drive business improvement. For example, user communities may provide the first public feedback on a new product release, or usability hiccups may appear as an increase in user questions posted online. This kind of information can help customer service organizations create a valuable feedback loop, helping them improve the business while at the same time improving customer satisfaction. The Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help service organization analyze and better leverage customer feedback right within Microsoft Dynamics CRM by:

- Tracking feedback by monitoring and participating in customer communities.

- Identifying the most talked-about issues and using them for improvement in products and services.

- Creating a mechanism to elicit feedback from customers and creating an idea repository.

- Conducting aggregate analysis and identifying key customer service trends and patterns.

Technology Requirements Social networking, in combination with customer relationship management, can enhance an organization’s marketing, sales, and service efforts. But to take advantage of social networks in a way that is consistent, sustainable, and open to analysis, organizations need customer management solutions that provide the right capabilities. By investing in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, companies receive:

- A holistic CRM suite with robust marketing, sales, and customer service capabilities for easy sharing of information and a 360-degree customer view.

- A familiar and easy-to-use interface through the native Microsoft Office Outlook® client for Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

- Seamless integration to key social networking sites, allowing Microsoft Dynamics CRM users to directly track and leverage data and relationships from them.

- Insightful analysis capabilities that enable organizations to capture and make sense of customer data.

- Robust workflow capabilities that can be used to capture and automate business processes.

- A CRM application built on a flexible service-oriented-architecture (SOA), providing a scalable and highly flexible infrastructure for innovation.

- An extensible data model that supports traditional CRM, but also provides the flexibility to address changing customer paradigms and new business models.

- Ease of customization that enables organizations to tailor the solution to their unique business needs.

Conclusion The surging popularity of social networking sites is indisputable. Yet many organizations still struggle to translate it into real business benefits. By acquiring tools that let them manage their social networking initiatives alongside traditional marketing, sales, and service activities, organizations can take advantage of social networking without losing focus on their core business. Ultimately, success will lie with those businesses that can integrate social networking’s wealth of customer data, unfiltered feedback, and informal conversations into existing customer management initiatives and processes. Microsoft helps our customers achieve this goal through the Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. This solution equips organizations with the capabilities to better listen, respond, and analyze social network activities. By applying that insight, Microsoft Dynamics CRM allows organizations to better integrate this emerging channel into existing business processes for a more holistic and effective customer management approach—something that will continue to be paramount for success.

For More Information For more information about the Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, see http://crm.dynamics.com/

http://www.pargesoft.com/ Microsoft Dynamics AX CRM NAV Global Partner

Technorati Etiketleri: Microsoft Dynamics CRM, ENG, Dynamics CRM, CRM, ERP, MRP, Microsoft,Dynamics AX CRM, Dynamics NAV CRM, Pargesoft

CRM and Social Networking – Microsoft Dynamics CRM

The Intersection of Social Networking and CRM

What does social networking have to do with CRM? At the heart of any business are customers, and social networking represents an opportunity to build even more mutually rewarding and candid relationships with those customers. But for organizations to realize tangible business benefits, they need to better plan, manage, and measure their social networking efforts. This is precisely where CRM intersects with social networking.

Adam Sarner, Gartner analyst, contends that in social networking, “CRM is where you are going to see the ROI in the business model as opposed to anywhere else. It’s all about connecting and engaging in new ways with customers,” (McKay 2009). This isn’t surprising. Customers using social networks want meaningful engagement with companies. And businesses want a way to manage and measure their forays in social networking. When social networks and CRM work together well, businesses gain the ability to better listen to customer conversations and engage social customers on their own terms while managing and measuring their efforts to do so. Social networks, by bringing in otherwise untapped and unmanaged online conversations, also help organizations get closer to a true 360-degree view of the customer so they can further optimize their marketing, sales, and customer service efforts.

A combined strategy for richer customer interactions

The combination of social networking and CRM provides an enormous opportunity to enrich customer interactions and give businesses a way to manage and measure how they use social networking while successfully engaging social customers. A Gartner Research report calls social networking a “disruptive influence” on the CRM market, challenging companies to innovate and adjust (Metz, 2008). There are, however, some basic strategies that can help organizations better leverage social networking as part of their overall customer management strategy:

- Treat social networking as a new channel within CRM. Many companies already use CRM solutions to manage customers, contacts, interactions, and communications, so it makes sense to continue to use customer management tools when these activities move into social networking channels.

- Enhance and extend CRM through social networking. While social networking activities can be considered as an additional channel in CRM, they also extend and enhance the capabilities of CRM with new ways of engaging customers and managing conversations.

- Play to the strengths of both CRM and social networks. Use CRM and social networking sites together to better listen to customers, analyze information, and respond to customers in a way that’s meaningful to them.

Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics® CRM In order to help businesses implement these strategies, Microsoft offers the Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Accelerators for Microsoft Dynamics CRM are add-on modules developed to address specific business needs. The Social Networking Accelerator allows Microsoft Dynamics CRM users to discover online conversations, identify influential people, and engage with them on social networking sites using their customer system of record—Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Additionally, the Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM includes the same easy-to-use interface and industry leading analytics that allow organizations not only to capture data but also make sense of it. With the Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, marketing professionals can identify their most influential advocates and better manage the brand. Sales professionals can discover new leads and zero in on key data points, and customer service agents can proactively identify and address issues.

Social Networking for Marketing Perhaps the biggest benefactor of social networking is the marketer. Social networking provides marketing organizations with new insights into their brand, innovative ways to execute and track grass-roots marketing programs, and new methods to turn fragmented online conversations into actionable insights. To do so, though, organizations will need ways to monitor, understand, and participate effectively in those conversations and leverage them in conjunction with existing marketing programs and processes.  

Increase brand awareness The first step in engaging social customers is to listen to what they’re saying. While social networking sites provide a rich source of customer opinions and attitudes, the challenge is to capture this information in a useful form and in a way that benefits the business. The Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help organizations increase the awareness of their brand and products and improve market sentiment by:

- Identifying key influencers in each product area to increase brand awareness.

- Automatically tracking public online conversations of interest within the customer system of record.

- Rating and tracking the sentiment of specific social networking conversations.

- Tracking online reaction to new announcements or developments.

- Keeping track of competitors by monitoring their public online conservations.

- Using social networks as a source of market research by creating online focus groups.


Better leverage online channels Social networks can also provide an excellent opportunity for grass-roots online marketing initiatives. Because social networks tend to be egalitarian and informal, they have the potential to appeal to customers at a personal level in a way that’s difficult through traditional channels. Marketing via social networking sites, however, does not replace traditional marketing. Instead, it should be treated as an additional channel with its own unique characteristics that complement other marketing efforts, an approach that can ultimately enhance the effectiveness of all channels. The Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help marketing organizations engage social customers while managing and tracking their efforts by:

- Quickly spotting developing PR or perception issues and addressing them with pinpoint responses.

- Authoring social networking messages directly from the customer system of record.

- Automatically tracking responses to social networking messages or conversations.

- Seamlessly integrating social networking channels into existing marketing methodologies.

- Launching online marketing programs that engage social customers in their preferred environment.

- Seamlessly tracking responses and leads generated from online marketing efforts.

Measure results As social networks continue to emerge as a viable marketing vehicle, organizations will need flexible analytical tools to take that information and turn it into actionable insights. With these tools, social networking data can greatly enrich and expand upon information from traditional sources. The Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help organizations capture useful data from social networks by:

- Identifying and tagging public online conversations about their product, brand, and industry.

- Analyzing message effectiveness by measuring impressions, replies, and other key metrics.

- Using pre-built analytics to track follower count and identify evolving trends in real-time.

- Gaining instant visibility into brand health with the Social Networking Dashboard.

- Using powerful analysis capabilities to identify the biggest online champions, influencers and complainers.

http://www.pargesoft.com/ Microsoft Dynamics AX CRM NAV Global Partner

Why Microsoft Dynamics solutions for automotive suppliers?

The automotive industry continually adopts new technologies to face emerging challenges. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) put pressure on tiered suppliers to reduce costs, increase output, improve quality, and deliver more frequently. To stay competitive, suppliers must implement more flexible, powerful, and responsive production systems.

Microsoft Dynamics business management solutions give automotive manufacturers the key capabilities needed to be more responsive to customers and suppliers. Our solutions can enable automotive companies and their suppliers to reduce time to market, improve plant floor production, and link supply chains more effectively to production.

Improve operations and reduce costs

Support a variety of release accounting methods, including cumulative order management, Kanban, and long-range forecasting 830 Production Release Transactions.

Help lower system costs by supporting lean manufacturing capabilities.

Develop profitable customer relationships

Provide a comprehensive view of customer information.

Coordinate multi-channel communications with customers.

Improve customer support by more effectively tracking and monitoring customer needs and requests.

Build connections to suppliers and vendors

Utilize automotive production demands to enable operations and suppliers' operations to react quickly.

Drive transparency down the supply chain to second- and third-tier suppliers directly from auto makers' forecasts.

Shorten development cycles by integrating product development with manufacturing, accounting, purchasing, and suppliers.

www.pargesoft.com Microsoft Dynamics AX CRM NAV Global Partner

Apparel and Textile for Microsoft Dynamics AX

 

Integrate production processes, routing, and complex item data to increase efficiency, improve traceability, and manage cascading product specifications across the supply chain.

Global competition, the increasing complexity of dispersed supply networks, and ongoing mergers and acquisitions challenge apparel and textile manufacturers to satisfy demanding customers, bring products to market faster, and operate profitably. Yet these companies often struggle with patchwork information systems that are unable to handle the required number of item variables, limit flexibility, and inhibit visibility into operations.

Apparel and Textile for Microsoft DynamicsTM AX addresses complex item coding, traceability, and process flexibility needs of companies that manufacture and distribute textiles and apparel—from fibers to yarns and consumer and industrial fabrics to home goods and carpet, as well as clothing, designer lines, and fashion accessories.

With robust, industry-specific functionality and tight integration with other Microsoft products, Apparel and Textile for Microsoft Dynamics AX is a comprehensive business management solution that provides a high degree of scalability and readily adapts to your company needs and changing corporate structure. Support for multiple languages and currencies helps you operate smoothly across geographies. With Apparel and Textile for Microsoft Dynamics AX, you can be confident your solution is relevant to the demands of your industry and business.

Advanced item coding links item production and finishing variables with sourcing, BOM generation, and routing to help ensure traceability, cost accounting, and profitability analysis.

Benefits:

• Manage complexity for comprehensive traceability. Handle numerous material and product variables effectively with multi-dimensional item coding that enables you to track from raw fibers to finished goods—and back. Trace materials through variable sourcing and manufacturing processes, subcontractors, inventory, and logistics.

• Increase agility with adaptable processes for sourcing, manufacturing, and shipment allocation. Use blanket orders, neutral bills of materials (BOMs), multi-line manufacturing orders, and variable routing and allocation simulations to meet changing customer and supplier requirements.

• Take control of costs and profitability. Integrate material, item, order, and cost information into comprehensive financial management and reporting tools. For example, gain insight into seasonal or brand collections’ performance or profitability of various distribution channels.

• Gain insight to respond effectively to changing conditions. Run simulations and model new processes to adapt effectively to changes in product lines, manufacturing capabilities, supply partners, production geographies, vertical integration, and distribution.

• Streamline supply chain interactions. Take advantage of multicurrency, multilanguage, and multi-site support to speed transactions, improve transparency, and facilitate consolidated financial reporting.

Dimensional item management	Manage complex item variables with advanced coding attributes and “smart” SKU coding for raw materials, process outputs, and item characteristics including collection or seasonal grouping, style, color, color-way, size dimensions, decorations, and finishing variants. Automatically update item codes based on manufacturing process completion with transaction-driven code changes and extensions.
Bi-directional materials tracking	Improve traceability both upstream and downstream when you can track goods by lot, batch, and serial number and trace finished goods back to components and suppliers through item BOMs.
Flexible bills of material (BOMs)	Streamline planning and increase production agility with neutral BOMs that enable production and materials planning independent of variables such as size, color, or color-way.
Adaptive production management	Increase efficiency and respond quickly to changes with multi-line manufacturing orders, flexible and alternative routings, and reprocessing management. Support either push or pull production policies and integrate subcontractor routings and management into planning and logistics.
Tailored customer order capabilities	Streamline order entry by creating multiple order types such as collection and showroom orders and open blanket orders with truncated codes for later specification. Accommodate multiple shipment addresses and delivery dates per order and save time by making mass modifications in existing or blanket orders.
Quality assurance support	Integrate quality grading processes and information into the production and supply chain. Allocate products of various grades to different distribution channels and gain insight into grade costs and profitability.
Integrated shipping	Define and meet customer requirements for put-up options, labeling, unitizing, and documentation, with item and shipment information fully integrated into invoicing and accounting processes.
Inventory management	Maintain multiple material status indicators and improve inventory management with comprehensive tracking of materials and finished goods, including samples, off-site deposits such as trade show or showroom stocks, multiple real and virtual warehouses, and wholesale or distributor inventories.
Supply chain management	Increase supply chain visibility, monitor subcontractor performance, and collaborate effectively. Incorporate supply partners into routing decisions and costing, share information using Microsoft® formats familiar to people worldwide, and extend replenishment processes to suppliers through the Internet.
Price lists	Access integrated cost information to easily generate price lists for finished goods of various quality grades, sizing, and quantities, plus create and maintain special promotional, trade-show, or showroom pricing.
Multiple measurement units and conversions	Streamline and automate measurement conversions based on algorithms for improved accuracy and consistency.

htpp://www.pargesoft.com Microsoft Dynamics AX / NAV / CRM Global Partner

Microsoft Dynamics CRM – Case Studies

2B Solutions Technology Consultant Secures New Business, Exceeds Customer Expectations

When Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner 2B Solutions experienced fast growth in its Microsoft Dynamics® CRM practice, it looked for ways to secure all pending business, use resources more effectively, control costs, and increase customer satisfaction. With sound methodology, best practices, guidance, and documentation, the Microsoft Dynamics Sure Step Methodology proved to be a comprehensive business-enabling resource. Since 2B Solutions adopted the methodology, it has used Sure Step to scope every implementation project and close a significant volume of new business. Clearly set expectations and careful planning boost customer confidence and help customers realize solution benefits rapidly. And, with Sure Step tools and materials, 2B Solutions minimizes the cost and risk of complex projects, streamlines technical training, and gains valuable efficiencies in its resource utilization.

“Following the Sure Step Methodology, we offer detailed statements of work and have secured the business every time. We’ve also won new public-sector customers on the merits of this approach.”

Jeff Cross, President, 2B Solutions

Situation

Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner 2B Solutions, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, was a 2006 Microsoft Technology Innovation Partner of the Year Finalist for Mobility Solutions. The company’s technology experts consult with business customers and deliver solutions to help them gain more value from key relationships and flexibly track inventory and assets while on the go and at business locations.

2B Solutions implements Microsoft Dynamics® CRM for customers who want to increase the productivity of critical business relationships. The company’s customers thrive in a wide variety of market segments, with heavier concentrations in education, government, and healthcare. Often, the company’s technologists customize Microsoft Dynamics CRM for specialized business requirements or integrate it with 2B Solutions’s mobile technologies. As Jeff Cross, President of 2B Solutions, explains, “We began by supporting and enhancing the more traditional customer sales and marketing operations, but have gone far beyond that. We now aim to help our customers generate greater returns from their relationships with their stakeholders and contributors.”

With 2B Solutions employing Microsoft Dynamics CRM in more demanding and complex scenarios, smart project planning and most efficient use of limited resources—people’s time and budgets—became critical. Says Cross, “As we expected our growth to continue and our workload to be challenging, we wondered if there were better ways to prepare, structure, and run our implementation projects.” The company also wanted to identify a reliable, comprehensive source of documentation for Microsoft Dynamics CRM to help standardize and deepen employee familiarization, and reduce training time.

In addition, 2B Solutions sought a way to ensure customers firmly committed to projects that the company’s consultants had spent time discussing and scoping with them to avoid any drop-off that would result in a loss of revenue. Closely connected to that goal was the intent to increase customer satisfaction. More specifically, the company wanted to ensure customers received all necessary information related to projects and technologies. With that information, customers would have a full understanding of the solution’s capabilities to harbor appropriate expectations and be in a position to put Microsoft Dynamics CRM to effective use immediately after an implementation.

Solution

Available through the Partner Foundation Plan for Microsoft Dynamics, the Microsoft Dynamics Sure Step Methodology is a key benefit of the plan. 2B Solutions had already invested in the Partner Foundation Plan and thoroughly evaluated what was available within the framework of the Sure Step Methodology, which provides guidance to streamline solution implementations and complete them successfully. Sure Step Methodology resources comprise a large repository of proven-to-be-effective templates, tools, and best practices, including specific content and tools for each product within the portfolio of Microsoft Dynamics solutions.

“The Sure Step Methodology helps us minimize the risk potential risks in our projects, which in turn frees us up to pursue new business with renewed focus.”

Jeff Cross, President, 2B Solutions

2B Solutions adopted the Sure Step Methodology as the framework for efficiently planning and completing software implementation projects. Available to 2B Solutions as a download, the Sure Step Methodology can scale to support projects of any size—from relatively simple upgrades to large-scale deployments. From diagnostics during the sales cycle, on to solution deployment and operation, the Sure Step Methodology develops through six distinct phases of a software project; 2B Solutions has incorporated this phased approach into its project management. Flowchart diagrams help the company’s consultants make timely, effective use of the tools, templates, and detailed best practices provided for each project phase. In addition, the flowchart diagrams help the 2B Solutions project team and its customers set up all the roles and accountabilities that play a role in completing a project.

The company also uses the extensive documentation accessible within the Sure Step Methodology to grow the skills of both new and experienced employees, and enhance team members’ professional standing with a deep education in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Sure Step Methodology technical documentation continues to serve as reference material during 2B Solutions’s projects.

Among other recommended practices, the Sure Step Methodology assists in creating a complete, highly detailed scope of work before projects are underway. “As soon as a customer commits to a project, our team carefully reviews the scope-of-work document so that everybody understands the requirements, project milestones, and criteria for success,” says Cross. Using the scope of work, project managers:

Plan resources. Precisely identify tasks and action items. Set deadlines for the distinct phases of a project. Remain in close contact with the customer to make sure 2B Solutions meets or exceeds expectations.

Clear definition of project scope means that consultants and technologists immediately know when a customer request may result in a digression from the project path or present an unplanned risk. If the latter is the case, 2B Solutions issues a risk warning to the customer, asking for review and discussion so that the customer and consultants together can mitigate the risk and adjust the project scope if needed.

Following the Sure Step Methodology guidance, 2B Solutions adjusted the categories that the company uses to allocate and track employee time on projects. Managers review this information to keep projects on track within budgetary guidelines. The Sure Step Methodology enables a transparent information presentation that provides granular, flexible drill-down capabilities. Those, in turn, give project managers an easy way to review the details of project events, assess any changes to be made in project delivery, forecast the projected outcome of changes in resource allocations, and keep projects on track with customer requirements.

Benefits

For 2B Solutions, adoption of the Sure Step Methodology accelerates business growth, improves customer satisfaction, and enhances the efficiency of resource utilization. “The Sure Step Methodology helps us take our company to the next level of success,” states Cross. “It’s an invaluable resource that reinforces our expertise, ensures accountability, and offers practical ways to act on opportunities to grow our business and make it more efficient.”

Close More Business with Better Customer Experience
Using the Sure Step Methodology, 2B Solutions finds it easier to obtain firm customer commitments and steadily grow its customer relationship practice. “Following the Sure Step Methodology, we offer detailed statements of work and have secured the business every time,” says Cross. “We’ve also won new public-sector customers on the merits of this approach.”

“We’re enthusiastic about the potential of the Sure Step Methodology to drive productivity. We will adjust the way we work whenever we see the beneficial impact of practice enhancements.”

Jeff Cross, President, 2B Solutions

2B Solutions has seen first hand how the Sure Step Methodology enhances the experience of its customers. Customers often mention to the 2B Solutions consultants working with them that they feel the company’s approach is thorough, well organized, and completely in line with their goals. Customers also appreciate the fact that every activity in a software implementation follows the steps and schedule outlined in the scope of work so that they always know when and what to expect next. “The Sure Step Methodology gives even the most complex projects a dependable orientation that keeps everybody on track,” says Cross.

Boost the Productivity of Individuals and Teams 2B Solutions can ensure its consultants’ proficiency and effectiveness through the comprehensive documentation and prescriptive guidance available for Microsoft Dynamics CRM through the Sure Step Methodology. What’s more, employees can review the materials on their own without requiring a significant portion of somebody else’s time for training. Says Cross, “In contrast to earlier times, our managers’ workload in familiarizing staff with the intricacies of Microsoft Dynamics CRM and how to meet customers’ challenges is a fraction of what it used to be.”

2B Solutions expects to modify its team collaboration process in response to the experience gained in implementations informed by the Sure Step Methodology. “We’re enthusiastic about the potential of the Sure Step Methodology to drive productivity,” says Cross. “We will adjust the way we work whenever we see the beneficial impact of practice enhancements.”

Generate Savings, Reduce Risk
After having managed a number of implementations in accord with the Sure Step Methodology, 2B Solutions is still finding new ways to use the methodology to improve the way it manages the company’s business. 2B Solutions project managers regularly review detailed information to ensure projects are on schedule and within budgets, and frequently identify opportunities to boost efficiencies. “Sure Step gives us much better control in managing budgets and resources,” says Cross. “I know we will generate more substantial cost savings for customers and the company.”

A 2B Solutions manager team meets every week with a Microsoft partner advisor to discuss how the company uses the Sure Step Methodology and strategize the most promising ways for increasing the outcome. The best use of the methodology to anticipate and mitigate potential roadblocks and risks in implementation projects figures prominently in these conversations. Says Cross, “The Sure Step Methodology helps us minimize the potential risks in our projects, which in turn frees us up to pursue new business with renewed focus.”

Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systems that your company already has implemented. By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship, and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes, and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success.

http://www.pargesoft.com/ Microsoft Dynamics CRM Global Partner

Microsoft Dynamics is familiar to your people

Help people and teams realize their professional potential by lowering barriers to productivity

The best way to create a productive company is to empower your staff to produce. Provide them with the business software tools that work like and with the tools they use every day—Microsoft Office. As individuals and team members, your employees can do their jobs and surpass their goals.

Improve productivity with RoleTailored software

Microsoft Dynamics works like other Microsoft products you and your people are familiar with, helping reduce the time required to learn how to use it, and freeing up time to focus on what matters most. Designed with a focus on the roles people play throughout your company, Microsoft Dynamics delivers an individualized, task-based user experience and allows your employees to easily customize and automate based on their own preferences and work style. That means less training and development time and a quicker return on your investment.

Software that’s designed around the specific jobs people do can provide the unique information each person needs to improve performance in their role. The results:

- Improved individual productivity.

- Better business insight across the organization.

- Tremendous potential for increased company performance.

The Microsoft Dynamics Customer model. Based on careful research and input from business customers like you, Microsoft has developed a model to guide RoleTailored software design. The tool helps document, capture, visualize and share how people work within departments. It helps ensure that Microsoft business management software, including Microsoft Dynamics, is based upon a thoroughly-researched, consistent set of people and processes that you can easily configure to work with your business.

Get an up-close look at the “People and Departments” section of the Microsoft Dynamics Customer Model: Download a white paper (DOC 3.13 MB).

The Microsoft Dynamics Customer Model visually represents people in different roles, or personas. These are based on real user data, and create a common language to guide Microsoft Dynamics product design.

Download a larger version of the illustration:

Microsoft Dynamics Customer Model (PDF 931 KB)

The departments and work component of the Microsoft Dynamics Customer Model provides an in-depth view of the top-level business processes within a department, and describes key processes and workflow used across organizations.

Download a larger version of the illustration:

Microsoft Dynamics Customer Model: Departments and work (PDF 1.27 MB)

Give people permission to contribute

Because your people can work effectively with Microsoft Dynamics solutions right from the start, they can be more productive and more satisfied in their work. You can observe measurable productivity benefits and a strong return on investment.

Microsoft Dynamics solutions offer several key productivity features that help to empower people to function better:

- Comfortable, familiar, consistent user interface that works with and looks like Microsoft Office programs

- Capability to access quickly and without distraction high-priority business functions and information based on business role

- Streamlined, simplified business processes with less busywork

- Extensive collaborative capabilities

Provide integrated business software—then watch the results

By integrating technologies you can boost the value of each component of your business management infrastructure in many business areas. For example, integrating products and technologies can help you:

- Streamline efficient financial management. You can use the same set of software skills to: Perform financial management tasks, control and manage costs and finances, use reporting and analytical tools, collaborate with people across the company, and support regulatory compliance.

- Make sales that get results. Manage orders and production, build productive customer relationships, communicate effectively with customers and suppliers, and satisfy or exceed customer needs at every opportunity.

- Promote effective use of human resources. Enable your human resources group to process tasks more efficiently and keep your employees more satisfied. Give employees control over personal information, simplify or automate routine and administrative tasks for human resources managers, and streamline recruiting and hiring processes.

- Create sound business strategy. Company leadership must be in control of business direction. Microsoft Dynamics and other Microsoft technologies can provide your managers and executives with an easy way to answer important questions, accurately assess business events and market trends, make more informed decisions, and keep the business on a profitable course in alignment with strategic goals.

Invite your IT team to contribute more

To increase individual and organizational productivity, don't forget the IT group. When you run your business on the Microsoft platform, your IT people can use the same expertise, network infrastructure, and systems management tools to implement, monitor, distribute, and maintain all of your business technology systems.

Without the need for extensive user training, the IT group can focus more on mission-critical tasks. And by consistently using the Microsoft .NET Framework programming environment and developer tools, IT team members can customize the technology to optimally suit your changing business requirements, helping to ensure the long-term viability of your business.

www.pargesoft.com Microsoft Dynamics Global Partner