“With the new software-plus-services offering, we can reach out to a market where we struggled previously. And by using ThinHost’s infrastructure, we can achieve this by taking minimum business risk.”

Dave Sargeant, Sales Director, Influence

Recruitment industry software provider Influence wanted to target the startup market with a low-cost solution. It developed a hosted software-plus-services offering with Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner ThinHost. It is a complete desktop solution comprising recruitment applications and the 2007 Microsoft Office suite. Within 15 months of launch, Influence gained 40 new customers and now predicts 70 per cent business growth in the next year.

Business NeedsUnited Kingdom based IT solutions provider Influence delivers software and support services targeted at the recruitment industry. Small boutique agencies as well as larger enterprises use its end-to-end recruitment solutions to manage database and applicant life cycles.

Influence has used its industry experience and customer insight to consistently improve the performance of its software. This includes integrating with Microsoft suites, such as Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 to create customised workflows.

In 2006, the innovative solutions provider recognised the market opportunity to expand its customer base by delivering applications as hosted solutions. Dave Sargeant, Sales Director at Influence, says: “Startup businesses are a large part of the recruitment market. They start small but have the potential to expand operations rapidly. So they need an IT infrastructure that is easily scalable and does not require a large capital investment. They also cannot afford dedicated IT staff because the focus is more on sales and the recruitment process. A hosted solution is a perfect match.”

By accessing applications as a service, Influence customers can pay on a monthly

basis rather than invest upfront. In addition, they can quickly add new users at any time and be free of infrastructure management costs. But, when Sargeant and his team researched the market, they found that most service providers could deliver a similar hosted solution through the Web.

Influence needed to differentiate its offering from the competition and looked for a hosting partner that could add value to the existing product. Sargeant says: “We wanted to provide not just the software but end-to-end services, including data backup and recovery, technical support, and invoicing and billing. It would have been too expensive for us to set up the infrastructure to cover all these areas. So we required a partner that could help us achieve these at a low cost, and at the same time understand our target market.”

SolutionFollowing an internal tender process, Influence decided to work with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner ThinHost, and host its software on the partner’s Microsoft technology-based infrastructure called ThinHost.

Ricky Reemer, Co-Founder of ThinHost, explains: “Applications run on powerful servers in our data centres, and no

Customer: InfluenceWeb Site: www.influence-it.comCustomer Size: 1-99Country or Region: United KingdomIndustry: Professional services—ITPartner: ThinHost

Customer ProfileEstablished in 2002, Influence provides specialist software solutions and support services for recruitment consultancies and agencies. The company’s head office in Surrey serves customers across Europe.

Software and Services Microsoft Office− Microsoft Office Standard 2007

Microsoft Server Product Portfolio− Exchange Server 2007 Standard

Edition Technologies− Terminal Services

For more information about other Microsoft customer successes, please visit: www.microsoft.com/casestudies

Microsoft Office SystemCustomer Solution Case Study

Recruitment Solution Provider Hosts Applications, Predicts 70 Per Cent Growth in a Year

processing is required by the end-user’s desktop computer. Users access software through the Internet without requiring high-end computers—a computer is just an interface to access the application. Importantly, data processing happens faster on our 64-bit servers, leading to better application performance compared to it being locally installed or delivered as a Web page application.”

Influence could move to a hosted environment without having to recode its application. This is because almost any Windows® application can run seamlessly on ThinHost infrastructure. “This helped us achieve quick time to market for our new offering,” says Sargeant.

In 2007, Influence launched a new ThinHost-based software-plus-services product called Influence Virtual. It is a complete desktop solution for the recruitment industry comprising the Influence application, the 2007 Microsoft Office suite, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Customers pay a monthly subscription based on the number of users.

ThinHost maintains a disaster recovery centre and backs up all data for Influence customers five times a day. Its multi-tenant infrastructure provides dedicated storage space for each end user.

Along with guaranteed 99.99 per cent application availability and technical support, Influence also receives cobranded collaterals from ThinHost, such as a control panel to remotely set up new user accounts, reset passwords, and change security policies. To assist Influence with the commercial aspects of the hosted-software delivery model, ThinHost provides it with pricing tools, a billing system, and marketing documentation.

BenefitsInfluence Virtual is seeing high adoption among businesses with up to 10 users—more than 60 per cent of new Influence customers are choosing the hosted solution over locally installed software. “Recruitment is a demanding business requiring people to work from home or while travelling. Our offering fulfils their needs by delivering the whole work environment through the

Internet anytime, anywhere,” explains Sargeant.

Ease of software installation has helped Influence cut operational expenses and provide low-cost solutions to customers. Sargeant says: “With the new software-plus-services offering, we can reach out to a market where we struggled previously. And by using ThinHost’s infrastructure, we can achieve this by taking minimum business risk.”

Increased revenues. Within 15 months of launching Influence Virtual, Influence gained 40 new startup customers, and predicts a further 70 per cent business expansion in the next year.

Faster time to market. ThinHost needs to install applications only once on ThinHost and can set up new accounts within 30 minutes—before, it took two days to configure applications for each new customer.

Reduced operational costs. Reduced installation time has resulted in a drastic cut in operational costs.

Advanced features. Startups using the Influence Virtual package can access e-mail messages using mobile phones and BlackBerry devices connected to a BlackBerry Enterprise Server—which is a competitive advantage for recruitment agents who need to be in touch with their customers round-the-clock.

High data security. Up-to-date antivirus and antispam systems as well as data backup services by ThinHost provide peace of mind to recruitment companies because their data is highly secure.

Larger customer base. In a hosted context Influence has extended its geographical reach nationwide without any operational issues. All the customer needs is a stable Internet connection and the service can be sold and demonstrated remotely.

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published January 2011