20/20 Companies builds order management application 4x faster on Force.com

Challenge

• 20/20 Companies, which provides outsourced sales teams for the telecommunications, cable, and energy industries, needed a business solution to help manage its rapidly growing door-to-door and retail divisions.
• The company had been using a .NET-based order entry system with Microsoft Excel on the back end, but the system couldn’t keep pace with 20/20’s rapid expansion and the growing complexity of the business.
• 20/20 wanted a totally customized solution at a reasonable cost, with minimal risk of failure.

Solution

• 20/20 Companies considered .NET, NetSuite, and hybrid solutions but chose the Force.com cloud platform and Salesforce CRM Unlimited Edition. 20/20 appreciated Force.com’s easy customization, extensive library of pre-built applications, and proven track record.
• With help from Salesforce.com Consulting, the application was deployed to more than 700 employees,
• Pervasive Data Integrator shares data bi-directionally between Force.com and external clients for invoicing, reconciliation, and validation. Force.com is also integrated with ADP for payroll and Microsoft Dynamics for financials.
• A custom sales application – built on Force.com – lets outsourced reps enter sales data into 20/20’s order-to-invoice-to-payroll tool. A Force.com-based time tracking application – developed in VisualForce – lets reps “punch in/out,” and accounts for overtime, holiday, and state-specific payroll requirements.
• Custom Force.com apps also give fast access to real-time information on products, orders, rep and kiosk performance, time sheets, events, bonus payouts, and more.
• Managers access business data via BlackBerry and iPhone devices, so they can track the business in real time from the road.
• Crystal Reports from the Force.com AppExchange helps 20/20 Companies with advanced reporting and analytics.
• A salesforce.com ideas community lets managers solicit feedback and ideas from their teams.
• Salesforce.com Training and Certification programs helped administrators get up to speed quickly and get the most benefit out of the deployment.
• Premier Support (included with Unlimited Edition) helps 20/20 Companies get fast answers to questions; weekly meetings track system performance and help the company stay apprised of upgrades.

Results

• With Force.com, 20/20 Companies were able to build custom applications 4 times faster and at ¼ the cost of using .NET.
• 20/20 Companies quickly deployed a custom business solution with integration to external financial and payroll systems. The solution easily scales to accommodate continued growth, and the cloud computing model eliminates the need for 20/20 to invest in software and infrastructure.
• The custom Force.com application lets operations track and compare data originally entered in client systems. It saves time and reduces errors from manually reconciling these now interoperable systems. A time tracking tool helps 20/20 easily manage payroll.
• Improved access to information improves planning and decision making, based on KPI metrics, helps 20/20 Companies manage its business more efficiently.