Case Study

www.saglobal.com

Client overviewThruline Marketing provides a comprehensive

portfolio of marketing and online education

services to help higher education institutions

increase enrollment, grow revenue, and better

serve their students.

SolutionThruline Marketing implemented Microsoft

Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations as

their financial management, project

accounting, and administrative ERP platform.

Their Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP system

was tightly integrated with their Microsoft

Dynamics 365 for Sales CRM solution to

automate key processes and the flow of data

across their business.

ResultsThrough the implementation of Microsoft

Dynamics 365, Thruline Marketing 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

Thruline Marketing gainsplatform for growth withMicrosoft Dynamics 365

Complex needs require

a sophisticated solution Thruline’s diverse line of services requires a specialized set of

information systems to manage the quoting, acquisition,

placement, and billing of their services. This also includes

pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), social

media marketing, traditional media placement, and other services,

with their unique inquiry-based model (pay-per-inquiry) and

Online Program Management. Being able to easily exchange the

data that is collected in these specialized software tools with

administrative systems and processes is a key to maximizing

operational efficiencies within Thruline’s business.

As Thruline Marketing 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 Thruline Marketing 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 Thruline

Marketing. “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.”

Company overviewWith more than 500 employees across the United States, Canada,

United Kingdom, and Australia, Thruline Marketing 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 worldwide

to launch programs, grow enrollment, improve learning, and

connect education to careers for the world’s most prepared

students. Thruline’s track record speaks for itself, having helped

over 4,000 educational institutions better serve their students.

Cloud-based environmentbrings flexibility After evaluating NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics 365 (formerly

Microsoft Dynamics AX), Thruline Marketing chose Microsoft

Dynamics 365 as their new ERP platform. They also selected

leading Microsoft consultancy, sa.global, 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 are already a Microsoft

shop, having invested in both the Office 365 and Microsoft

Dynamics CRM platforms, Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP fit quite

nicely into our IT portfolio,” Shankar explained.

Implementing a new financial management and ERP platformThruline Marketing worked with sa.global to implement Microsoft

Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations as Thruline’s new

financial management and ERP platform. The system is used not

only for Thruline’s core accounting processes, but also key project

billing and project accounting activities, and as their core platform

for BI and reporting.

sa.global leveraged their projects360 (formerly known as

Projects+) industry solution for Microsoft Dynamics 365 to provide

advanced functionality around project billing and other project

accounting areas. sa.global also implemented their projects360 BI

solution that leverages Microsoft Power BI and the embedded

Microsoft Dynamics 365 in-memory BI solution for analytics and

reporting.

A key element of Thruline’s implementation is the tight integration

that was deployed between the Microsoft Dynamics 365 for

Finance and Operations (ERP) and Sales (CRM) solutions. sa.global

worked with Thruline Marketing to develop an integrated data and

process model where key activities performed in Thruline’s

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM solution would trigger and

automate related processes in their Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP

system.

info@saglobal.com

www.aec360.com

Let’s talkAmericas: +1 302 858 0087

EMEA: +44 (0) 2921 055902

APAC: +65 62084857

sa.global - DevelopedIntegration Engine

SALES

Accounts, Contacts,Addresses

Customers, Contacts,Addresses

Projects, Contracts,Funding Source

OpportunitiesClosed as Won

Leads/ProspectsProject Opportunities

AccountsContacts

AddressesActivities

Client BillingProject Accounting

Revenue RecognitionClient ProfitabilityCore FinancialsBI/ Reporting

FINANCE ANDOPERATIONS

Streamline business processes,automate flow of data Since implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365 in North America,

Thruline Marketing has been able to achieve many of the benefits

that they set out to accomplish:

• 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

“With Microsoft Dynamics 365, we have made great progress towards our vision of driving process automation through the organization. And more importantly, we have put a solution in place that enables our businesses to scale through improved operational effectiveness.”

Jai ShankarChief Information Officer Thruline Marketing

Leads &Prospects

ProjectAccounting

Analytics andReporting

Customers &Contacts

OpportunityManagement

ClientBilling

RevenueRecognition