This joint submission shows how 2 or more Microsoft partners working together can deliver a greater customer result, widen their solutions and grow their business faster than if operating alone. The strength of the Microsoft partner ecosystem is highlighted by these partners leveraging the skills and resources of others so everyone wins.
The partner recognised by this award will have demonstrated how they helped small business to better connect with customers, partners, and employees, to manage business processes productively and to reply on dependable, flexible, and secure software.
The nomination has derived from the transfer of information from Selecon NZ Limited’s Auckland facility to its Holland plant and achieving an outstanding 100% improvement in productivity.
Selecon has an unrivalled history as an innovator of optical systems and luminaires.
The passion which was responsible for the formation of Selecon continues to this day, along with the commitment every day to work towards providing better tools for our colleagues with which to light the stages, museums and galleries of the world.
Selecon has a warehouse in Holland which was run from New Zealand. The users in Holland accessed the Epicor ERP system via terminal server. This was an extremely slow and inefficient process due to latency in the internet connection between New Zealand and Europe only. Operations that would take 30 minutes in New Zealand were taking up to 3 hours in Holland.
In addition, Selecon had been using Mdaemon for their email and had found they needed a higher level of functionality and a more consistent view of information such as calendars and contacts.
Working with Kinetics, in collaboration with Interactive Systems and COGITA Business Services, two significant projects were planned for Selecon to increase their business efficiency while allowing Head Office to retain control of vital systems.
The first project was to split the Epicor database so the users in Holland could access it locally. The data replicates across the world so that Head Office has a real-time view of what is happening in Holland.
The second project was to implement Microsoft Exchange 2007 in New Zealand. Selecon users around the globe now have secure access to shared contacts and calendars with the added protection of this information being backed up in New Zealand.
Stephen Fairweather, Selecon Operations Director, said “It does exactly what it was intended to do. Holland users are now ecstatic. Productivity has improved 100% in Holland”.
