50 Below Case Study

PowerObjects Takes IT Burden Off 50 Below and Helps Improve Efficiency with Hosted CRM

FAs an internet sales and marketing company, 50 Below designs, develops, maintains, and constantly upgrades large-scale web applications for corporate enterprises with large networks of dealerships, agents/advisors, and franchisees. Based in Duluth, Minnesota, 50 Below hosts over 100,000 retailer and agent/advisor websites and ecommerce stores. To better administer and manage their existing internal Microsoft Dynamics CRM application, 50 Below looked to PowerObjects to host and manage their CRM application environment and the hardware that supports it.

Situation

As a growing company, 50 Below needed a better way to manage their internal IT support for their on-premise Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution. Focusing most of their IT resources on client projects and services, they found their IT resources very limited in time and experience to adequately manage CRM internally, including the hardware and applications to run CRM as well as Microsoft Exchange. "We looked at a variety of options and solution providers, but found PowerObjects to have the best CRM experience and knowledge as well as personalized service, which really made the difference," said Lenny Hubbard, Internal Systems Manager at 50 Below.

Solution

Taking the IT burden off 50 Below, PowerObjects stepped in and is now hosting and managing CRM and related hardware off site. As part of the service, PowerObjects handles the back-up, monitoring and tuning of Microsoft Dynamics CRM including system upgrades, security patches and roll-ups. "Having PowerObjects handle everything has been a big advantage for us. We don’t have to worry about managing our CRM application, keeping up-to-date on the latest technology or dedicate IT resources to it. We know that PowerObjects is taking care of it and we can focus our time supporting other areas of our business," said Hubbard.

As a value-add in working with PowerObjects, 50 Below has taken advantage of PowerObject’s PowerPack modules free of charge. These modules, PowerEmail, PowerDashboard, PowerSurvey, PowerView, PowerEdit, and PowerFax, extend and enhance the functionality of CRM. "We have taken advantage of many of these tools including PowerDashboard and PowerView, and they have been a great added bonus and time-saver for our users," he added..

Key Benefits

Hubbard believes the company has realized substantial benefits thanks to PowerObject’s expertise and solutions. With the applications being hosted and managed off-site, Hubbard’s team has been able to focus on other projects including extending CRM throughout the entire organization including sales, marketing, customer service, training, and product fulfillment. "We see the value in what CRM can bring to almost every aspect of our organization and our goal is to have the majority of the 225-employee company using it in some way by the end of 2011," said Hubbard. "In addition, we are working on eliminating many of our legacy applications which will reduce data entry duplication, and we hope to achieve a 25% increase in efficiency giving us a leg-up on our competition."

PowerObjects has been a win-win solution for 50 Below. "Working with the PowerObjects team has been great. Their technical knowledge and ability to provide a reliable and robust solution for our company has allowed us to focus on our core IT needs and get more value from our investments. They are a trust partner and one that we can rely on time and time again," said Hubbard.