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Background
Advanced Electronic Solutions2 (AES2) is San Diego’s leader in system integration, simplifying the lives of homeowners by properly wiring and installing residential, commercial and custom homes with products and services ranging from central vacuums, home theaters, lighting, home automation, surround sound and speakers.
Situation
At the time the company approached Solutions Consulting Group (SCG), it was largely a paper-based system with no automated workflow. On the backend, they did have Great Plains, but it was being used as a basic Enterprise Resource Planning system, not specific to AES2’s vertical. Data had to be re-keyed two and three times, and there was little control over inventory, resulting in parts not being at the right place at the right time. AES2 sought SCG’s help to create an end-to-end integrated enterprise solution that would enable them to scale their business efficiently
Solution
Out-of-the-box, Microsoft CRM addressed about 50 percent of the company’s needs. SCG extended CRM, defining new entities for the AES2 vertical and integrating it with Great Plains to make it an end-to-end enterprise solution. SCG created a series of customized ASP.NET screens for specific company functions, such as sales orders, that coordinated with CRM tables. Complex, multi-faceted housing floor plans were stored using the Document Library in SharePoint Services, enabling the creation of specific folders for each development phase. Already Power Point aware, automatic check in/check out functions let employees know who looked at what and when. SCG also tailored Great Plains using .NET customizations to establish a just-in-time inventory procurement process, created a list of tasks, and the order in which they are to be completed, during a project’s lifecycle. Using a sophisticated algorithm, SCG was able to streamline and automate the entire workflow process and enable AES2 to easily manage every facet of its business, from order inception to follow-up processes after installation is complete.
Results
By utilizing the Application Integration Framework and Touchpoint Components, SCG was able to cut development costs and reduce overall development time for AES2. By creating an end-to-end solution harnessing Microsoft CRM, Great Plains and SharePoint Services, SCG was able to give AES2 a 360-degree view of its customers and contracts. In addition, SCG was able to allow better access to both back and front-end office processes, streamlining and automating the company’s workflow processes, storing valuable information for future sales and marketing efforts.
As a result of SCG’s efforts, AES2 now has a great foundation from which to expand their business and accommodate company growth, which has already resulted in a 151% increase. Also, as a result of their efforts, SCG/ AES2 have received the highest customer award that can be achieved from Microsoft – The Excellence in Microsoft Technologies Pinnacle Award. This award recognizes customers that have implemented and integrated multiple Microsoft technologies across their organizations to significantly improve their operations.
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paper-based system |
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basic ERP system |
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little inventory control |
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manually-intensive processes |
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| technologies |
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CRM 3.0 |
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.Net customization |
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SharePoint Services |
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BizTalk Server |
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| results |
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360 view of customers |
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workflow automation |
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streamlined processes |
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151% growth |
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