Steve Georgis, Director of Business Applications, Embanet
Customer Solution Case Study
/ Online Education Services Provider Prepares for Growth with CRM, Data Management Solution
“When we saw how Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SQLServer could interoperate with Office SharePoint Server, Outlook, and Communicator, it was eye opening.”
Steve Georgis, Director of Business Applications, Embanet
Embanet had outgrown its customer relationship management (CRM) software and, with rapid growth looming, needed a long-term solution. It now has that solution in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008. The solution is part of a comprehensive Microsoft product road map that Embanet found “eye opening.”
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published May 2010
Business Needs
Founded in 1995, Embanet partners with colleges and universities that seek to launch fully online degree programs. The company supports institutions such as Boston University, Vanderbilt University, the George Washington University, Northeastern University, and Kent State University. While safeguarding academic integrity, Embanet strives to maximize student enrollment and graduation by providing capital and online education expertise in program development, marketing, admissions, student services, and technology services.
Embanet has marketing, admissions, and student services staff, all of whom deal with potential and current students in itsclients’ more than 50 academic programs. Those employees need full visibility into the student life cycle in order to provide effective service. Marketing staff needs information to help generate online leads and understand marketing effectiveness. Admissions advisers also have needs—totake new students through the enrollment process. Meanwhile, student services advisers need to manage students’ academic progress from entrance through graduation.
Embanet had outgrown the systems that had previously served it well. For its customer relationship management (CRM) system, the company used SalesLogix, which lacked functionality and automation relevant to Embanet’s industry and business model. Because the software wasn’t extensible, new needs couldn’t be accommodated. To help support new information needs as they arose, Embanet employees began storing data in Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheets. This resulted in redundant and isolated collections of information.
In order to manage its growth, Embanet knew that it needed an enterprise solution. That solution would have to capture all needed information on prospective and existing students, eliminating the need for multiple databases and isolated data repositories. It would have to support the growth that the company anticipates over the next five years. It would have to be Web based for easy access. And it would have to be extensible to meet new needs as they arise.
Solution
Embanet considered a variety of CRM systems, including Siebel, SAP, PeopleSoft, and SugarCRM. Even though Embanet already had a significant investment in SalesLogix, it decided that switching to Microsoft Dynamics CRM would better meet its long-term needs. The ability of Microsoft Dynamics CRM to interoperate with the Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 messaging and collaboration client, Office Excel 2007 spreadsheet software, and Office SharePoint Server 2007 played a key role in the decision process.
“Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a flexible development platform that made it significantly easier for us to consolidate our multiple homegrown systems and invest in a platform that will scale and support our growth and diverse business requirements,” says Steve Georgis, Director of Business Applications at Embanet.
Georgis went to the Microsoft Technology Center in Chicago, Illinois, in May 2009 for a one-day Strategy Briefing on the use of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 data management software, Office SharePoint Server 2007, and Office Communicator in the Embanet solution. “Microsoft experts were able to show how their products and infrastructure could add value from both atechnology and business perspective,” says Georgis.
The company already had a positive experience with SQL Server 2005 and so was interested in a solution using SQL Server as its database. That solution was Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, which the company has just deployed on Microsoft SQL Server 2008.
Because the company needed a product tailored for the online higher education market, one that could include information about classes, registrations, schedules, and similar information, Embanet worked with Sonoma Partners, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, to tailor the software to its needs. “We chose Sonoma Partners because of their reputation with Microsoft Dynamics CRM,” says Georgis.
Benefits
The choice of the Microsoft CRM–based solution delivered a range of benefits toEmbanet.
“Because it’s a Web-based solution and because we already have and know SQL Server, the solution reduces continuing maintenance costs,” says Georgis. “We willdevote one person to maintaining thissolution—we couldn’t have done thatwith other enterprise products. Even user training will be minimal because the user interface is based on the Microsoft Office software with which our people are already familiar.”
The new solution will deliver far more than lower cost.
“Implementing a CRM system that provides a 360-degree view of our students and universities will allow our marketing, admissions, and student services groups to provide better coordinated services,” says Georgis. “We will have ‘one version of the truth’ because all data will reside in the SQL Server–based database for Microsoft Dynamics CRM.”
Embanet had outgrown its former solution and didn’t want to be in that situation again.
“With Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SQL Server, we have a solution that will grow with us easily over the next five years,” Georgis says. “And it’s flexible enough to meet the range of needs we have that are specific to the online education market.”
The extensibility of the software—and its interoperability with other Microsoft software—is a key benefit for Embanet.
“When we saw how Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SQL Server could interoperate with Office SharePoint Server, Outlook, and Communicator, it was eye opening,” says Georgis. “The ease of customization, integration, and overall usability of Microsoft Dynamics CRM makes it the ideal solution for our company.”
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published May 2010