KLST has completed many successful Application Development projects using .NET, JQuery, Angular5, SPFx, SharePoint 2013 / 2016 business applications and more recently using Office365 Development Tools to help organizations realize the full potential of SharePoint via extending SharePoint Features to meet business goals and objectives. Find below a recent case study where KLST was engaged in building complex customization on the Microsoft SharePoint 2013 platform (we have changed the name and industry of the client case study to protect its privacy)
Case Study – Leading Software Giant Redesigns Internal Partner Sales Portal Using Windows Azure and SharePoint 2013 to improve reporting and ubiquitous access across mobile devices.
Key Client Challanges
- Account Managers and Business Development Executives were mostly on the road and needed access to the Partner Portal on their mobile device prior to meeting the partner. Account Managers needed a way to understand all the different partners within a 50-mile radius of their current location.
- Ability to lookup Microsoft Dynamics CRM opportunities or enter a new prospect into Microsoft Dynamics CRM using mobile-friendly forms in SharePoint 2013 optimized for Windows Phones, iPhones, iPad, and Android phones.
- A clean simple Bing / Google-type Search that could search all the relevant knowledge base stored in SharePoint 2013, Dynamics CRM, and a custom ERP backend application.
Our Solution
- KLST built a single, integrated solution for Opportunity Tracking and “Location-Based” Lead Management on Windows Azure cloud development environment, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 platform. We developed responsive forms using HTML5, CSS3, and JQuery, and Bing Maps API for Location-Based recommendations.
- Custom Visual Studio workflows were developed using C# .NET 4.0 to dramatically reduce the time, effort, and potential for error in processing and analyzing Sales Funnel Reports. It also automated communication with partners, resellers, and system integrators, to further increase efficiencies and reduce software sales lifecycle times.
- A Customization Plan ensured that any “bad code” and poorly thought out changes are phased out in an agreement between IT and business stakeholders, especially those that could be risky to uptime and ongoing operational management of the Sales Portal. Any new code was forced to undergo a structured quality assurance process.
- Various Sales Analytical reports by geography were automatically generated and made available via the SharePoint 2013 portal for account managers and business development managers to prospect, qualify, and close software deals quickly. The manual effort was limited to handling inbound calls, which left Account Managers with more time to focus on account nurturing and growth.
Key Benefits
- Scalability and Reliability: Given the high volumes of data processing required to create real-time sales analytics, Windows Azure provided an environment that is always turned on and can scale up or down depending on global team member adoption and usage.
- Reduced Turnaround Times: The new system allowed quicker turnaround times as Sales reports were available anytime, anywhere on any mobile device on-demand, including improved data quality that resulted in increased sales.
- Reduced Costs: By running its site in a Microsoft hosted cloud environment, the Client significantly reduced the cost of maintaining and expanding the portal.
- Rapid, cost-effective development: Rapid cost-effective development of mobile-ready forms using the power of SharePoint 2013 and Visual Studio 2015.
