I'm sure you've been hearing a lot lately about online and how it can simplify the management of your company’s customer records. You may be wondering if it really lives up to the hype or if some claims are just too good to be true. If so, consider the study of Magma Design Automation, a leading provider of electronic design software with 18 offices and 700 employees worldwide.
Prior to switching to Microsoft Dynamics CRM online, Magma had been using disparate ERP and CRM systems, ERP from SAP and CRM from Salesforce.com. These two solutions did not integrate with one another easily causing a number of issues for the organization. These included:
- Difficulties accessing information – according to Vicki Flores, Vice President of Information Services at Magma Design Automation, “managers, sales account executives and R&D team members needed to see what customers' and prospects' concerns are, where leads come from, and how the sales department moves them through the purchasing cycle.” But, with the disjointed system, this could not be done without manual workarounds.
- Inefficient search and workflow capabilities – this system also made it impossible for employees to share reports with one another. Without easy access to current information, managers found it difficult to effectively plan and control business activities. Also, searching the systems was a laborious process, Flores states, "if you edited your search criteria you had to start over. It could take up to 15 minutes to perform a detailed search. “
- Increasing expense and needless software functionality – Over time, Magma Design Automation became dissatisfied with Salesforce.com. Due in large part to the fact that managers felt the yearly price increases for this service were not commensurate with the software enhancements. Furthermore, they felt that some of the new features Salesforce.com introduced were irrelevant to their business.
Because of these issues, Magma Design Automation decided it was time to search for another CRM solution. After an exhaustive search, the company decided that Microsoft Dynamics CRM online would be the best option to fit its needs. The key drivers behind this decision included:
- System integration – Microsoft Dynamics CRM online integrates with the other key technology that the company uses including SAP, Microsoft Outlook, Molten (the company's external website and customer portal) and ExactTarget.
- Simplified workflows –The company was able to replace the many thousands of custom scripts programmers had written to force its disparate systems to work together with approximately 30 customer relationship management entries and 250 workflows for important, frequent tasks.
- Substantial savings –Microsoft Dynamics CRM online needs little administrator support, integrates with existing systems, is easy to work with and comes with comparatively low licensing fees.
- Faster customer service response time –Magma’s customer portal now integrates with Microsoft Dynamics CRM giving customers more direct ways to communicate with the company and easily take care of simple issues on their own.
- Increased sales and marketing efficiency –Microsoft Dynamics CRM online integrates with both Microsoft Outlook and Exact target, providing Magma with a 360° view of each customer’s activity.
- Improved decision-making and planning – Microsoft Dynamics CRM online allows you to refine queries until you see exactly what you're looking for, save queries as views, and make decisions based on real-time results.
If Magma Design Automation’s situation sounds familiar and you’d like to learn how your company can improve its efficiency and productivity with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, please . We’d love to help!
By: Laura Heinbockel
