KAZ's CRM master

“Within the programs [at] Microsoft, it’s really good because you’re taught [about] add-ons. We have some partnerships with companies abroad that have some vertical [market] add-ons that we are bringing to market here,” Broeng says.

Broeng has enjoyed her time in the IT industry. “You can make such a big difference for a lot of companies” -- as she describes it. “I’ve always ended up being involved in something new for someone and always made it successful.”

“One thing overseas -- everything you do around the [platform implementation] is important. Your talking to the customer about business processes. What I’ve realised also is that the people using it are very much the key to its success.”

She says that a lot of companies selling IT solutions are selling the technology only and not linking the rollout to a business process.

“There are so many companies that only address the IT -- very technical bits and bytes and that won’t make a big difference. If you don’t have the rest it’s not good. I think the key is to have someone that understands the business of your customers.”

KAZ has teams divided into different vertical markets. “Some are focused on manufacturing and they know what are the pains that all those different manufacturers have. “There’s not much manufacturing from the beginning happening here. Most companies are importing things and have a lot of inventory issues and then distribute [products]. So how do you deal and help them with those inventory issues and have the best stock and make sure it fits with the products that they have in those channels?”

“To have a provider that can address how people work in the supply chain from end to end and not as much about having piece-meal solutions is key,” she says. “I believe there will be fewer windows out there in the marketplace because people will realise it’s not about having little solutions.”

She agrees that technology itself is almost secondary to the business processes benefits that application software can provide. “They talk about what they need, come in with the IT and think that’s it -- but it’s not because it’s got to be successful. This is part of the change management that everybody has got to do. It could be a tiny solution put in place but no matter what, it affects the people, and if they are not happy it’s not going to work.”

“This is what's so good about KAZ because we have people that understand all this and not just sell whatever we think is good for [the customer]. We do the proper diagnostics, give them advice as to how to make it successful.”

The Microsoft Business Solutions are quite extensive as they include many modules. “I always use the example of Lego building blocks. If [the customer] chose the full package -- Axapta is the biggest one -- it could take two years to get a return on investment.”

“You’re typically up against SAP or Oracle, which is more high-end and there’s a lot of studying and people complaining that you never get the return on investment.”

She says with Axapta a customer can typically get a return on investment (ROI) in 18 months but it can be diffi cult to convince the customer to make the leap.

“If they’ve had a bad experience, yes. You can show them -- there are so many case studies with these solutions and return on investment studies with Axapta that show how many of them have actually gained a return on investment in a short time. It [Axapta] is built to be customised.”

“That’s why I chose KAZ, because I was approaching different partners here and [determining] who can bring the most to customers,” she says.

Broeng agrees that consolidation in the IT industry and channel will continue. “I do imagine there will be more [companies] that can put together end-to-end [solutions] and I think that’s important for customers making their decision that they have someone they can trust and they know they will be there in the future.”

“For ERP solutions, every five years or so you look at whether you should upgrade to a new version or should you replace it or get something new in. You don’t really want to replace it because then you’ll have to go through everything again with a new company.”

“So if you can get in and keep operating and working with the IT solution provider that you have it’s the best way to keep up to date instead of getting behind.”