oncore IT Case Study - oncore IT Achieves Greater Sales Intelligence and ROI using iExtensions CRM

Company Overview

oncore IT is a London based provider of 24/7 managed IT services for small and medium sized businesses. Their service offering incorporates both hardware and software solutions for a complete outsourced IT model. By partnering with best of breed vendors, oncore IT provides its clients with a managed service that only a large corporate would normally have access to. Services include: remote IS management; provision of all hardware equipment and software licenses; disaster recovery; remote (offsite) online backup and recovery; firewall provisioning; desktop management; bandwidth management; equipment hosting and replacement; network monitoring and alerting; and email filtering.

The Challenge

Prior to October 2008, oncore IT was using an alternative customer relationship management (CRM) system that required frequent customisation and intensive IT development work to meet their changing needs. This became ever more costly and required the dedication of too much time and technical resource for the busy and growing business. The system also lacked functionality; for example, it did not include analysis tools for important tasks such as sales forecasting. The rigidity of the legacy system also denoted slow updates and changes, which reduced the use of the system and resulted in a poor return on investment (ROI).

The Solution: iExtensions’ Customised CRM Offering

In Q4 2008, oncore IT took the decision to implement iExtensions CRM. In selecting iExtensions they chose to leverage the company’s existing IBM Lotus Domino server and deploy a solution that was tightly integrated with Lotus Notes mail functionality, which oncore IT uses as a key business function. High on the agenda for the new CRM system was added functionality, greater flexibility and controlled costs.

“We needed a solution that is easy for our management, sales and customer services teams to use and would not require expensive customisation,” said Martin Bacon, Head of Sales, oncore IT. “Being in the business of technology ourselves, we were searching for a partner experienced in our field that could understand and react quickly to our specific and somewhat complex requirements. iExtensions was able to tailor its software and service to meet our demands in both functionality and on cost.”

The integration of iExtensions CRM proved to be straightforward, through simple import definitions layered on top of the company’s existing Domino system.

The Result: Streamlined Sales Activities

After the implementation of iExtensions CRM, oncore IT immediately experienced a marked improvement in user adoption of the CRM system due to the high level of configurability of the solution. For example, sales account managers and service managers could easily alter different fields within iExtensions CRM to match the company’s multiple, yet inter-related service lines, without having to write code or request a customisation. iExtensions’ extensive and flexible automation has also helped the company save time on mundane processes, such as reporting, triggering escalations, assigning new sales leads and alerting of pending opportunities and follow ups.

“iExtensions’ CRM software has crucially streamlined our sales activities, freeing up our time to focus even more on new business development,” continued Bacon. “We can now view and analyse sales information that directly impacts our bottom line.”

One of the most significant and immediate benefits that oncore IT experienced was improved sales forecasting and reporting. With all customer-related information captured and visible from one centralised location, oncore IT could pinpoint new business opportunities based on their customers’ existing and future needs, and accurately map them against company resources.

Cost savings were also achieved due to iExtensions’ flexible technical underpinnings. iExtensions’ CRM architecture has enabled oncore IT to bypass the need for an IT management overhead; maintenance is easily fulfilled by the users themselves. The Web based interface enables the company’s authorised external consultants to access information whenever needed. Furthermore, iExtensions’ Dashboard has encouraged companywide collaboration and transparency, making it ‘easy’ and convenient for not only sales teams, but also executives and board members to view the company’s overall performance.

Bacon concluded: “Even though we’ve only just started using the product, we have already benefited significantly from it - 70% of our use is purely sales forecasting and management. We are interested in using further modules and exploring its mobile capabilities in the near future.”