Working Links ZAP. ZAP for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Case Study

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Randell Denis Stewart
8 years ago
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1 2nd Floor, Vintners Place, 68 Upper Thames St. London EC4V 3BJ

2 Client Industry Product Public Sector Business Intelligence for MS Dynamics CRM Champion Ingrid Brady, Business Information Consultant BACKGROUND bids for and manages regional contracts from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and other Government agencies to train and help socially excluded people to achieve sustainable employment. Its business model is based on delivering training and employment services through its network of regional offices. As a contracted service employer it claims its income on the results it achieves and its ability to demonstrate compliance with multiple and complex minimum service level (MSL) agreements. Fundamental to its operations are two Microsoft Dynamics systems - a sizeable and heavily customised CRM system which is used across the business to manage its contracts and relationships with employers, partners and customers, and Microsoft Dynamic AX to manage its financials. CHALLENGE prides itself on continually refreshing and innovating the delivery of its services. The ability to interrogate intelligence on customers, employers and partners, as well as the performance of its contracts is therefore an essential business requirement.

Its business model is based on delivering training and employment services through its network of regional offices.

3 However, conducting any form of analysis or reporting on the data within its Dynamics systems involved resource intensive, manual processes, which as Ingrid Brady, Business Information Consultant, Working Links explains, was highly inefficient and insufficient. Running a single report involved exporting data into Excel and could take days, if not weeks. What s more we didn t have access to the kind of business intelligence we needed in order to conduct any kind of in-depth analysis. She adds, If we improve our performance we increase our cash flow and profitability, so improving our business intelligence capability was high on our agenda. SOLUTION Impressed by a demo of ZAP Technology s BI software solution for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, invited ZAP to deliver a Proof of Concept (POC). The POC quickly convinced Working Link s BI Manager and team that the software met all the criteria they were looking for in a BI solution. We don t have lots of IT resource so we were looking for intuitive self-service functionality and a user-friendly front-end tool, says Brady. ZAP s BI software for Microsoft Dynamics CRM is part of an award winning suite of software solutions certified for Microsoft Dynamics products including CRM, NAV, AX and GP. For mid-market businesses requiring rapid implementation and results without compromising on complexity of analysis and reporting, ZAP s is the only product on the market to offer a complete solution. ZAP s POC proved straight away that this was an incredibly powerful BI Tool. Within one day, we had key users trained to use the software, build reports and obtain real results from live data. Everyone absolutely loved it and it was an easy business case to put forward. Ingrid Brady, BI Consultant, Implementation of ZAP into operations was fast and effective. The project kicked off at the start of 2012 with a requirements workshop to scope the delivery and prioritise the business reporting requirements.

What s more we didn t have access to the kind of business intelligence we needed in order to conduct any kind of in-depth analysis.

4 BI contractors were trained by ZAP s consultants to use ZAP CubeXpress, ZAP s fast track tool for building a data warehouse (OLAP cube) and super-users from each region were trained on the front-end system - a drag and drop web interface with dashboards, reports, charts, analysis, key performance indicators (KPIs), scorecards, alerts and business templates. Within one month BI contractors were working independently, delivering the priority reports on performance, MSL agreements and claims analysis, and within just four months, 200 users were churning out over 150 different reports at the touch of a button. The organisation is now focussing on training members of its finance team to use the software. BENEFITS Rapid setup: With its pre-built analytics, ZAP was able to deliver instant results for. User friendly: developers weren t the only users able to embrace ZAP s BI software; uptake from across the business has exceeded expectation given ZAP s easy interface. Improved cash flow: Previously, struggled to assess and rectify claims that were rejected by the DWP. These days ZAP provides an instant report on which claims are incomplete and why, so they can be rectified before the claim is sent to the DWP. Reduced costs: The software solution has also enabled the business to reduce its costs by helping the company to streamline its finance operations.

Within one month BI contractors were working independently, delivering the priority reports on performance, MSL agreements and claims analysis, and within just four months, 200 users were churning

5 We received incredible support from ZAP. They ve been a terrific partner and I ve thoroughly enjoyed working with them. A lot of the success of this project can be attributed to the good people they brought on board and the advice and guidance they delivered to ensure we implemented ZAP in a best practice way. Ingrid Brady, BI Consultant, ROI At a regional operational level, ZAP has already proved a return on investment. Fifty per cent of the organisation s contracts are operated out of Scotland and sixty per cent of those contracts are sub-contracted out to partner organisations. Scott Kennedy, Head of Sub-Contractor Management for Scotland explains how valuable the data ZAP produces is to his operations, I can now walk into a meeting with sub-contractors and at the push of a button have all the information I need regarding their KPIs. It s pushing performance conversations to a completely new level and our funding body, the DWP, has been impressed with our increase in performance. Improved operational performance: Improving operational performance is high on agenda and its operations teams have been quick to use ZAP s BI solution to do just that. With insight into data and intelligence that has previously been unavailable, Working Link s teams are now regularly performing sophisticated analysis. to identify programmes and interventions to help customers get into work faster. ZAP 2nd Floor, Vitner s Place, 68 Upper Thames St. London EC4V 3BJ

Ingrid Brady, BI Consultant, ROI At a regional operational level, ZAP has already proved a return on investment.

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