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.
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
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