Interaction Learning & Development

A Microsoft CRM Case Study

 

The Situation

Interaction Learning and Development was formed in 1995 to offer management development training such as leadership, team working, and personal development. In ten years the business has become recognised as a leader in experiential learning with a portfolio of Blue Chip and Public Sector clients. Mike Taylor of Interaction explains more.

"Our training may include outdoor exercises, psychometrics, action learning or many other techniques. It is the inventive way that these exercises can be combined that makes what we do engaging, unique and productive."

Excitation had already provided Interaction with Microsoft CRM 1.2 and the solution accelerator Excitation PRISM. The installation was a success and left Interaction with a system they could rely on. On the implementation Mike commented at the time;

"I'm fully satisfied that we now have greater quality of information and efficiency for sales, project management, and business forecasting. Now everyone can see relevant information about what is going on in the business."

With the Microsoft's release of Dynamics CRM 3.0 Interaction understandably wanted its business to take advantage of the new features that came with it. With Microsoft realising the advances that could be made with their Dynamics CRM product they abandoned the launch of Microsoft CRM 2.0 and moved straight to the development of 3.0. Interaction would be able to make use of the greater integration with Microsoft Outlook as well a host of other features that were introduced.

Solution

With the successful installation of Microsoft CRM 1.2, Interaction called upon Excitation once again to provide the expertese that was needed. Interaction wished to keep the functionality of PRISM whilst upgrading Dynamics CRM. The implementation of PRISM had proved extremely benefitial to Interaction's business processes.

"Resource utitilisation is a key deteminate in profitablility for us and [with PRISM] we have a much better handle on this with much less time and effort", says Mike.

Such an installation is a simple process with Dynamics CRM 3.0 and PRISM. The flexibilities of PRISM allow it to keep its full functionalities as an end-to-end business tool regardless of the versions of Dynamics CRM it is installed on. Excitation was able to upgrade PRISM's functionality to Dynamics CRM 3.0 onto which it has since been implemented for many businesses.

The installation therefore was a straightforward upgrade that allowed Interaction to obtain the advantages of Dynamics CRM 3.0 immediately. A return on investment could be seen quickly and with the support of Excitation's expertise, Interaction knew they had a service they could rely on.

"Excitation have always been knowledgeable and professional in their work with us, their latest installation of Dynamics CRM 3.0 on our systems was no exception", notes Mike.

Benefits

Improved development environment: Interaction was always interested in the customisation potential of their previous Microsoft CRM 1.2 application. With Dynamics 3.0 the developer environment was improved to provide even greater flexibility. This was something Mike and Interaction were looking forward to.

"Dynamics CRM and the underlying technologies offer us full customisation potential. I can now look forward to developing the tool further as our business grows over the years to come."

The continued benefits of Excitation PRISM: The functionalities of PRISM were easily upgraded to suit Dynamics 3.0. PRISM enables Interaction's management to see an up-to-the-minute picture of each opportunity in the pipeline and their potential impact on finances and resources. High quality information delivered quickly and efficiently allows an improved ability for Interaction to track their business processes.

Looking Forward

PRISM is a solution accelerator written into Dynamics CRM, which has a roadmap of development stretching many years into the future. The flexibilities of PRISM will also allow it to upgrade to any future versions of Dynamics CRM that are released. Therefore Interaction has a bespoke application based on a trusted Microsoft product, both of which provide long term guarantees of relevance to their business.

With Excitation completing several major projects successfully and its ongoing reassurance of expert technical support, Interaction know they have a long-term partner for their Dynamics CRM applications.