Recommendations
The disruptions in both email and CRM have prompted us to move servers to an external provider, but we’ve hit security issues and the provider has not been able to provide us with the necessary support. It is very difficult when you do not have the technical skills to understand the situation and find a solution, so the frustrations are pressing and the costs are not very negligible. We knew what cloud computing was and after the vendor presentations we understood exactly the benefits of eliminating equipment and licenses, which was exactly the solution we were looking for. The quality of service has grown obviously, and practically there are no disruptions in operation, neither in terms of CRM nor in the case of emails. Moreover, I know that Microsoft takes responsibility for this continuity in operation, which adds more comfort.
“We are headed toward Dynamics CRM considering the quality of the solution and on the existence of a support alternative, consisting of an expanded channel of partners with available resources, both technically as well as business. We also verified a relevant reference, a similar project to Valoris, where we got information on how to work with Dynamics CRM. The project implemented at Valoris being managed by CRESCENDO, we have naturally focused on them, after checking other recommendations in the market. In the choice made, we appreciated more the references in the business environment than the price itself. Finally, we wanted a solution to help us develop our portfolio. Both CRESCENDO and Dynamics CRM have shown high flexibility, which has allowed us to achieve a very dynamic way of working, able to change.
We have had a positive and enduring relationship with Crescendo for a long time. We have always appreciated their availability to support us through their professionalism and expertise. The original network solution was implemented in 2004 by Crescendo and our return to them 10 years later for the new solution is a true testament of the mutual trust and respect between the two organizations.
We have analyzed the market and the offerings of many players, and Azure has convinced us the most. The decision was motivated by Microsoft's cloud investments and the use of many other Microsoft products in the company. Also, Crescendo's very competitive offer for the required services package also contributed to our acquisition decision. Previously, 30% of the IT team's work time was allocated to Agri-Finance. After migrating to Azure, we eliminated much of the routine administration and monitoring tasks, and the allocated time was reduced to 10%. The recordings in the internal ticketing application were also considerably reduced. We therefore have the resources to manage projects with a higher value for business and to increase user efficiency.
We needed a tool familiar to users, and Microsoft’s solution met these requirements – our requirements. When reporting and filtering data is done in a program like Excel 2013 it is clear that use will be easy. Complementary we also appreciated PowerView that allows interactive viewing of data directly from the browser, as well as PowerPivot that help run complex analyzes of existing data in Excel. Another distinctive element for the Microsoft SQL BI server was Power Query that combines and refines data from a variety of sources including relational, structured and semi-structured, OData, Web, Hadoop, Azure Marketplace, Azure SQL Database, sharepoint lists and also offers the ability to search for public data in sources like Wikipedia. For choosing Crescendo as a partner mattered both the existing business relationships following previous contracts (infrastructure services, Microsoft Lync deployment, etc.), but above all the Business Analytics / Business Intelligence competencies and references presented. Crescendo is also a Microsoft Gold and Silver Partner on several technology lines.
The existence of a heterogeneous IT environment generates difficulties and great administration costs. Practically, in the absence of centralized management, maintenance involves many movements in data centers and manual interventions on an infrastructure whose inventory was fairly difficult to achieve. Moreover, each IT Business Unit manages separate sections of the infrastructure, which further complicates the situation. The internal assessment made by Rompetrol generated a consolidation project, for which we analyzed the market and evaluated all the available solutions. We chose the Vblock platform after a thorough evaluation of the performance indicators and guaranteed support, but also for the unitary concept around which it was developed, aspects that for us were very important. Moving the IT & C infrastructure in the Cloud was a success for Rompetrol. From my point of view, the advantage offered by the Vblock platform can be expressed in just four words: best value for money.
Generali Romania decided to change the IBM Lotus email solution with Microsoft Exchange 2007 Standard License version to simplify administration and usage, but also reduce administration costs. The bids received showed that at similar discounts, the licensing and implementation / adoption costs of the Microsoft Exchange solution were lower than IBM Lotus. In addition, the contract with Microsoft also allowed access to other products, such as SharePoint, to develop an Intranet portal. To migrate the email solution, Generali Romania chose CRESCENDO, an IT&C integrator with more than 10 years of experience in Microsoft-based projects, including Exchange. CRESCENDO' team has been involved in all stages of the project - from analysis, design to implementation / migration, and has been able to achieve Generali's performance goals, including the completion of the record-only three-week project. Because we had very fast storage systems, we could have migrated in one step, but we preferred to migrate 100 accounts a day to avoid a sudden change in the organization. But I noticed that many users were familiar with Microsoft Outlook, and the transition to the new solution made it easy. Therefore, distributing a user manual and the existence of a HelpDesk line were sufficient. There was no downtime and no data was lost.
Implementation of Cisco IP Telephony in several offices was the beginning to successfully resolving the problem of bank’s telephone high costs. Changing to IP telephony in these offices has enabled communication costs reduction of 40%. We acquired the voice recording solution CallRec from Zoom Company for the treasury agencies. Therefore now, currency sales/purchase orders sent to the bank treasury remain registered in customers’ history, thus it is eliminated risk of disproof. Our goal is to gradually provide a consistent communication service throughout the organization. At the same time, economic circumstances force us to reduce operating costs, to centralize administration and increase the level of security for the entire bank. After careful analysis of the market, we chose solutions from CRESCENDO IT&C Solution House. They help us become more efficient and contribute to ensuring our customer satisfaction and loyalty.
ProCredit Bank needed a secure and reliable infrastructure, a Contact Center solution for call management, which could be integrated with a software application for customer relationship management. CRESCENDO offered us a powerful and flexible solution. Thus, we can meet our customers’ needs while managing more effectively the internal resources.
To be truly competitive on this market, we needed all available tools with which we could get information in real time and which could allow us to quantify and optimize productivity, getting real production costs, and products traceability. Moreover, good sales order management and supply as well as gathering and reporting commercial information are required. We wanted to implement a system that can provide real-time information needed to support control and decision-making activity. We also took into consideration a easier way to production planning, to its optimization in accordance with the requirements – capacity relation. Furthermore, we wanted the application to be easily implemented in a short time, a requirement that MFG/PRO satisfied. When choosing CRESCENDO, we considered its over 15 years experience in the implementation of integrated software applications, the customer portfolio and the good references on the professionalism shown by CRESCENDO consultants. CRESCENDO got the best relation among the qualitative and financial reasons, as compared with those of competitors.
We wanted to implement an efficient solution, to really help daily work of our managers. The product qualities of the solution offered by CRESCENDO and also the professionalism shown by the team involved in this project makes us believe that our choice was the correct one.
We needed a solution to make team work more efficient, a communications solution that facilitates audio and video conferencing. Following the implementation of the CRESCENDO Team, we have achieved a 50% reduction in travel and communication costs and we unified communications.
As the communications needs in ABB Romania grew significantly, investing in a solution which could ensure a continuous information flow between our headquarter and the other locations became compulsory. he new chosen solution offered us two major benefits: increased productivity and costs reduction, as well as an implementation period of maximum 30 days.
One must know day by day and hour by hour what happens in the company in order to have a complete control over the production, manufacturing costs, sales efficiency. One must collect as in a basket every piece of information on entries, withdrawals, purchases, sales etc., from which one could retrieve what one needs at any time. One needs an advanced IT application in order to be productive. When one acquires such a system, one actually buys know-how, not a program. It is important to walk on known paths in order to be productive. CRESCENDO also provided advice in implementing WAN and network security solution. We achieved the mail server and secure Internet access also with their help. CRESCENDO covers a wide range of services and equipment: hardware solutions, software solutions in certain areas, such as network solutions and network security, advice in implementation and integration.
We did not want to implement the best application for sales or marketing analysis or accounting, but the application to achieve a good integration of business functions. Another criterion was the ability of the system to work in real time and to include all requirements on Romanian legislation, and also to take into account the possibility of working with multiple currencies. And last but not least criterion was the support provided by a company located in Romania. MFG/PRO application was the best integration of business functions for us.
The decision to implement this infrastructure is in line with the strategy of diversifying Libra Bank’s services and products and provides technical support for smooth functioning of an extensive regional network, as Libra Bank aims to have. Customers are the main beneficiaries of this project implemented by Libra Bank and CRESCENDO, because this infrastructure provides additional flexibility and speed in carrying out operations through more efficient activity of the IT department.
We chose Cisco IP Contact Center integrated with Microsoft CRM, application integrated with Microsoft Excange, all of them working on Active Directory, which was more than we hoped to find. When choosing CRESCENDO Solution House as a partner for project implementation, the skills in Microsoft and Cisco technologies mattered most. Furthermore, CRESCENDO Company had already implemented within its own business, Microsoft CRM 3.0 integrated with Cisco Unified Communications, thus being the first user in Romania of the new integrated technology.
CRESCENDO was able to provide a solid solution, which met the requirement for a flexible, manageable and scalable solution. One of the most important benefits to choose CRESCENDO was its ability to deliver the entire solution and cover the whole area of project support, as it is very important for us to know in case of an incident, we can find solutions for complete resolution in one place
Our users adopted the Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution very quick, because it brings a visible improvement in activity, especially because manual tasks are now automated and access to information is much faster. In addition, they had quick access to information that needed many applications to be searched before. My colleagues discovered many benefits using the application.With the adoption of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Banca Transilvania met its business needs, became more customer-centric, and significantly improved Call Center efficiency. Information from multiple applications is centralized in CRM and provides an overview of the interaction with the client. CRM offers full history of customer relationship and facilities complaints management. Predefined and customizable reports are available for both Call Center and Back Office management.