Keypath Education | Microsoft Dynamics 365 Case Study · Case Study: Microsoft Dynamics 365 1...
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Keypath Education Gains Platform for Growth with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Background With more than 500 employees across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, Keypath Education has been changing lives through education for more than 26 years. The organization provides a comprehensive portfolio of marketing and online education services to its clients, serving the entire student journey by partnering with higher education institutions world- wide to launch programs, grow enrollment, improve learning, and connect education to careers for the world’s most prepared students. Keypath’s track record speaks for itself, having helped over 4,000 educational institutions better serve their students. Complex Needs Require a Sophisticated Solution Keypath’s diverse line of services requires a specialized set of information systems to manage the quoting, acquisition, placement, and billing of their services, which include pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, traditional media placement, and other services, including their unique inquiry-based model (pay-per-inquiry) and Online Program Management. Having the ability to easily exchange data that is collected in these specialized software tools with key administrative systems and processes is a key to maximizing operational efficiencies within Keypath’s business. As Keypath had continued to expand their business, including growth outside the United States, the organization had started to outgrow the capabilities of their existing financial software system, MAS/200. To support further growth of the organization, it became imperative to put a platform in place that would help Keypath grow and expand in a profitable and efficient manner. “Relative to the size of our business, we have some very complex processes due to the breadth and varied needs of our services”, explained Jai Shankar, Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Keypath Education. “As our business continued to grow, we understood that we needed to get in front of some key process automation challenges. It was critical that we have a platform that would not only help us maximize efficiency levels, but also help improve our visibility of key business metrics such as client and product profitability and support our global operations.” Case Study: Microsoft Dynamics 365 1 Client Profile Keypath Education provides a compre- hensive portfolio of marketing and online education services to help higher educa- tion institutions increase enrollment, grow revenue and better serve their students. SOLUTION: Keypath Education implemented Micro- soft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations as their financial manage- ment, project accounting, and administra- tive ERP platform. Their Dynamics 365 ERP system was tightly integrated with their Dynamics 365 for Sales CRM solution to automate key processes and the flow of data across their business. RESULTS: Through the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365, Keypath has been able to: Automate the flow of data across key operational business systems Streamline critical processes like client billing and vendor payments Improve visibility of key metrics that drive management decision making Free up headcount to focus on value-adding activities
Transcript of Keypath Education | Microsoft Dynamics 365 Case Study · Case Study: Microsoft Dynamics 365 1...
Keypath Education Gains Platform for Growth with Microsoft Dynamics 365
BackgroundWith more than 500 employees across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, Keypath Education has been changing lives through education for more than 26 years. The organization provides a comprehensive portfolio of marketing and online education services to its clients, serving the entire student journey by partnering with higher education institutions world-wide to launch programs, grow enrollment, improve learning, and connect education to careers for the world’s most prepared students. Keypath’s track record speaks for itself, having helped over 4,000 educational institutions better serve their students.
Complex Needs Require a Sophisticated SolutionKeypath’s diverse line of services requires a specialized set of information systems to manage the quoting, acquisition, placement, and billing of their services, which include pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, traditional media placement, and other services, including their unique inquiry-based model (pay-per-inquiry) and Online Program Management. Having the ability to easily exchange data that is collected in these specialized software tools with key administrative systems and processes is a key to maximizing operational efficiencies within Keypath’s business. As Keypath had continued to expand their business, including growth outside the United States, the organization had started to outgrow the capabilities of their existing financial software system, MAS/200. To support further growth of the organization, it became imperative to put a platform in place that would help Keypath grow and expand in a profitable and efficient manner.
“Relative to the size of our business, we have some very complex processes due to the breadth and varied needs of our services”, explained Jai Shankar, Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Keypath Education. “As our business continued to grow, we understood that we needed to get in front of some key process automation challenges. It was critical that we have a platform that would not only help us maximize efficiency levels, but also help improve our visibility of key business metrics such as client and product profitability and support our global operations.”
Case Study: Microsoft Dynamics 365
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Client ProfileKeypath Education provides a compre-hensive portfolio of marketing and online education services to help higher educa-tion institutions increase enrollment, grow revenue and better serve their students.
SOLUTION:Keypath Education implemented Micro-soft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations as their financial manage-ment, project accounting, and administra-tive ERP platform. Their Dynamics 365 ERP system was tightly integrated with their Dynamics 365 for Sales CRM solution to automate key processes and the flow of data across their business.
RESULTS:Through the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365, Keypath has been able to:
Automate the flow of data across key operational business systems
Streamline critical processes like client billing and vendor payments
Improve visibility of key metrics that drive management decision making
Free up headcount to focus on value-adding activities
The Microsoft Dynamics 365 SolutionAfter evaluating NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics 365 (formerly Dynamics AX), Keypath chose Microsoft Dynamics 365 as their new ERP platform. They also selected leading Microsoft consultancy, SAGlobal, to help them implement their new solution.
“We did a thorough evaluation of cloud-based ERP platforms”, recalled Shankar. “We felt that Microsoft’s model for allowing customer controlled environments, even in the cloud, gave us the flexibility that was critical to building an integrated environment customized to our needs. And because we’re already a Microsoft shop, having invested in both the Office 365 and Dynamics CRM platforms, Dynamics 365 ERP fit quite nicely into our IT portfolio”, Shankar explained.
The ImplementationKeypath worked with SAGlobal to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations as Keypath’s new financial management and ERP platform. The system is used not only for Keypath’s core accounting processes, but also key project billing and project accounting activities, and as their core platform for BI and reporting.
SAGlobal leveraged their Projects+ industry solution for Dynamics 365 to provide advanced functionality around project billing and other project accounting areas, as well as their Projects+ BI solution that leverages Microsoft Power BI and the embedded Dynamics 365 in-memory BI solution for analytics and reporting.
A key element of Keypath’s implementation is the tight integration that was deployed between the Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations (ERP) and Sales (CRM) solutions. SAGlobal worked with Keypath to develop an integrated data and process model where key activities performed in Keypath’s Dynamics 365 CRM solution would trigger and automate related processes in their Dynamics 365 ERP system.
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“SAGlobal has been a great partner. They’ve consistently shown a high level of functional and technical expertise around Dynamics 365, and have been very responsive to our needs.“
Jai ShankarCIO
Keypath Education
Customers &Contacts
OpportunityManagement
ProjectAccounting
RevenueRecognition
Analytics andReporting
Leads & Prospects
Client Billing
Accounts, Contacts, Addresses
Opportunities Closed as Won
Customers, Contacts, Addresses
Projects, Contracts, Funding Source
LEADS/PROSPECTSPROJECT OPPORTUNITIES
ACCOUNTSCONTACTSADDRESSESACTIVITIES
CLIENT BILLINGPROJECT ACCOUNTINGREVENUE RECOGNITIONCLIENT PROFITABILITY
CORE FINANCIALSBI / REPORTING
SALES FINANCE AND OPERATIONS
Integrated Dynamics 365 Environment
SAGLOBAL - DEVELOPEDINTEGRATION ENGINE
MicrosoftDynamics 365
Let’s [email protected]
www.saglobal.com
Americas: +1 877-877-2266 ext. 703
EMEA: +44 (0) 2921 055902
APAC: +91 80 6733 8215
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The ResultsSince implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365 in North America, Keypath has been able to achieve many of the benefits that they set out to accomplish:
“With Dynamics 365, we have made great progress towards our vision of driving process automation through the organization”, said Shankar. “And more importantly, we’ve put a solution in place that enables our businesses to scale through improved operational effectiveness.”
SAGlobal Overview
With over 500 employees worldwide, 100% dedicated to Microsoft Dynamics 365, SAGlobal is the world’s leading provider of Dynamics 365 ERP, CRM, PSA, and HCM solutions and services for professional services organizations and other project-driven businesses.
SAGlobal offers industry-focused software solutions, expert consulting services, and industry best practices to help our clients facilitate their digital transformation, and to reimagine how they engage their clients, empower their employees, optimize their operations, and transform their service offerings.
Automating the flow of information across their various systems to streamline key processes like client billing and vendor payments.
Gaining improved visibility of key metrics such as client profitability and the contribution of their products / services to the business.
Improving financial controls, as well as the financial close, consolidation and reporting process.
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