GROUP Business Software AG

Transcription

1 GROUP Business Software AG GBS boosts global collaboration with Citrix GoTo cloud services

2 2 GoToMeeting has quickly become indispensable for us. Video conferencing in HD quality improves and simplifies communication between dispersed teams, while at the same time reducing travel costs. Markus Schmitz IT Manager GBS Enterprises-Gruppe GBS Enterprises Incorporated (OTCBB: GBSX), the parent company of GROUP Business Software AG (GBS), is an award-winning and leading supplier of cloud automation, solutions and services for the IBM Lotus platform. Over 5,000 customers and more than 4 million users worldwide trust GBS solutions in the fields of cloud computing, management and archiving, instant messaging, CRM, corporate compliance, workflow and administration. The company has 10 locations around the world in North America, Europe and Asia. The European headquarters is located in Frankfurt, Germany, and the North American headquarters is based in Atlanta, USA. The challenge: connecting teams across all sites During the last several years, GBS expanded considerably through global acquisitions, which increased the need for more efficient collaboration among its international teams. We now have about 220 employees at 10 subsidiaries around the globe, explained Markus Schmitz, general manager of IT at GBS. s, telephone calls and face-to-face meetings as the only ways to swap ideas among the teams were no longer sufficient, and we were experiencing slow communication, many misunderstandings and high costs. Schmitz started investigating: We were thinking about installing a video conferencing system for our staff to enable a realistic personal meeting experience, but were facing five-figure investment costs. The company had enjoyed using the online meeting solution Netviewer Meet and various other tools for web collaboration across the company, but none of these solutions offered the ease of use and video quality that Schmitz was looking for. At that time, Citrix had just launched GoToMeeting with HDFaces, which combines high-definition video, web and audio conferencing in one simple-to-use tool. For Schmitz, it was the ideal solution, because it enabled natural face-to-face collaboration, anytime and anywhere, with no setup required.

3 3 Implementing GoTo cloud services for enhanced collaboration and remote support With GoToMeeting with HDFaces, we found an affordable web collaboration tool that can be used from every PC and Mac for video conferences with up to six participants with amazing quality exactly what we were looking for, said Schmitz. GBS implemented GoToMeeting with HDFaces across the whole company for both internal and external communication purposes, replacing many other solutions. The implementation of GoToMeeting was fast and straightforward from a technical perspective and simple and intuitive for our employees to use. We offered short training sessions right after the implementation and did not receive any further questions, said Schmitz. Key benefits Enable efficient collaboration among distributed teams Save travel costs Generate leads through webinars Simple and secure IT support for customers and employees GBS also implemented the market-leading remote support solution Citrix GoToAssist to deliver customer support and services across its internal helpdesk. In addition, the do-it-yourself webinar tool Citrix GoToWebinar is used for sales and marketing purposes at GBS. More personal communication between dispersed employees GoToMeeting is now used by almost every department and subsidiary throughout the company. In particular, the research and development department, with its time-consuming process of co-ordination, and the finance department, with its team members spread around the globe, benefit the most. Thanks to the service s ease of use, collaboration at GBS has improved significantly, leading to a more personal communication between dispersed employees and an enhanced team experience. We really like the clean design and the focus on features, which are really important for collaborating, said Schmitz. Many competitive tools lack this simplicity. GoToMeeting offers everything we need. With GoToMeeting, the GBS employees can work closely together on documents by sharing their screens and passing on keyboard and mouse control. At the beginning, Schmitz and his team had to encourage the employees to take advantage of the video feature HDFaces. There are always some people who are afraid of showing themselves via webcam. But in a real face-to-face meeting, people don t have the option to wear a bag pulled over their heads, said Schmitz. This is just something new we have to teach them, and then it s a huge benefit.

4 4 Another attractive feature for GBS was the service s integrated audio, which offers VoIP and local dial-in numbers for audio conferencing. With the solutions we were using before, audio was always an issue, because either all participants in a meeting had to dial in via VoIP or they all had to use a traditional audio conference. This was often very complicated, and sometimes you even lost somebody. Being able to give each participant the choice is just great! said Schmitz. Saving travel costs through online meetings GoToMeeting has also made a significant impact in cost savings. Before the implementation, many business travels were necessary to organise the workflow across the organisation. Now, about 800 meetings a month at GBS take place via GoToMeeting. The number of business travels between Europe and the U.S. has substantially decreased, resulting in many cost savings. GBS even created a travel policy stating that internal meetings should only be executed via GoToMeeting. After a short adaption phase, the amount of travels decreased again. GoToMeeting has quickly become indispensable for us. Video conferencing in HD quality improves and simplifies communication between dispersed teams, while at the same time reducing travel costs, said Schmitz. Reports show the usage of the solution is still increasing, and we continuously receive requests for more seats. We are seeing a domino effect if you have joined a meeting, you also want to be able to initiate meetings. We are encouraging our staff to do so by providing them with headsets and cameras for an optimal meeting experience, said Schmitz. Generating qualified leads with webinars GoToWebinar is used by GBS sales and marketing teams for online events with customers, prospects and partners. With GoToWebinar, we can hold online events with up to 1,000 participants, gather information about their interests and interact with them by conducting polls, said Schmitz. It s a great tool for generating leads, said Schmitz. When setting up a webinar, you can request every kind of information you would like to have from your participants when they fill out the registration form. So you know exactly who is attending your webinars. The solution also offers comprehensive reporting features, which the GBS employees use to evaluate and track results after each webinar.

5 5 Supporting colleagues and customers fast and efficiently The 15 employees working in the GBS IT support department rely on GoToAssist for delivering fast, secure remote support to their customers and colleagues. With the robust tool set of GoToAssist, they can securely view and control machines to fix issues quickly, improve customer satisfaction and increase first-time call resolution. Product Information: gotomeeting.com gotowebinar.com gotoassist.com GoToAssist offers every feature we need and even some more we still need to spot, said Schmitz. With Citrix, we have a one-stop provider for a set of solutions that are vital for our business. North America Citrix Online, LLC 7414 Hollister Avenue Goleta, CA U.S.A. T info@ Europe, Middle East & Africa Citrix Online, UK Ltd Chalfont Park House Chalfont Park, Gerrards Cross Bucks SL9 0DZ United Kingdom T +44 (0) europe@ Asia Pacific Citrix Online, AUS Pty Ltd Level 3, 1 Julius Avenue Riverside Corporate Park North Ryde NSW 2113 Australia T asiapac@ About Citrix Citrix is transforming how people, businesses and IT work and collaborate in the cloud era. Its portfolio of GoTo cloud services enable people to work from anywhere with anyone by providing simple-to-use cloud-based collaboration, remote access and IT support solutions for every type of business. Learn more at and Citrix Online, LLC. All rights reserved. Citrix, GoToAssist, GoToMeeting, GoToMyPC, GoToTraining, GoToWebinar, Podio and Sharefile are trademarks of Citrix, or a subsidiary thereof, and are or may be registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 219EN_CS/