Microsoft Office SystemCommunications-Enabled Business Process Case Study

Customized Collaboration Solution Increases Efficiency and Improves Customer Support

OverviewCountry or Region: United KingdomIndustry: Financial services—Capital markets and securities

Customer ProfileRedburn Partners provides stock advice, trading, consulting services, and research and reporting to 1,400 financial services customers. The company has offices in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Business ChallengeThe company wanted to integrate its disparate business processes related to customer transactions and be able to serve its customers more efficiently using the latest information. It also needed to provide its sales employees and stock analysts with a smoother information flow.

CEBP SolutionRedburn deployed a solution from Formicary that combines Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

ROI Integrates business processes Boosts revenue through faster response

times Expects to achieve ROI within 18 months

“Formicary WebChat integration of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 into Office SharePoint Server 2007 is critical for us. Office SharePoint Server 2007 is likely to become a central technology for us.“

Peter Culver, IT Manager, Redburn Partners

As one of the largest independent pan-European institutional equities brokers in the United Kingdom, Redburn Partners has a complex technology infrastructure. However, as is the case with most growing organizations, the more Redburn expanded its software systems, the more disjointed the technology infrastructure actually became. This prevented the company from operating as efficiently as it would have liked. Redburn implemented a customized intelligent collaboration solution from a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Formicary, a provider of systems integration and software solutions. The solution, based on Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Office SharePoint Server 2007, has not only transformed Redburn into a more efficient operation but has also improved the speed and accuracy with which the company responds to its customers.

Business ChallengeFounded in 2003 and with offices in London and New York, Redburn Partners provides stock recommendations, sales trading and execution, industrial analysis, research, and reporting services. The company’s customers, which include major Wall Street investment banks, rely on Redburn to provide up-to-the- minute stock information and industry news.

Redburn employees had access to various applications to help them provide customers with information and pursue new business opportunities. These applications included a Fidessa order management system, a Parlano MindAlign Group Chat solution, and a Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution. However, because each of these systems operated separately, gathering and communicating information were time-consuming and inefficient. Users had to log on and off each application separately in order to search and retrieve the necessary information.

Peter Culver, IT Manager, Redburn Partners, explains, “The applications were adequate, but our sales staff and analysts didn’t have access to one seamless solution that offered a complete picture of a customer or industry, so it was difficult to provide customers with accurate market trends in a

timely manner. Also, this lack of integration made the flow of information between the sales and analysts teams ineffective.”CEBP SolutionTo address its business challenges, Redburn wanted to move to a more cohesive environment that could integrate the organization’s different applications and support changing requirements moving forward.

To accomplish this goal, the company implemented a customized solution from Formicary, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and global provider of systems integration and software solutions. “We already had a long-standing relationship with Formicary so we knew that the company could provide good, workable solutions in a timely manner,” says Culver. “It seemed sensible to approach Formicary to help us because the company has a good service history with us. Formicary also understood the strategic motivations in the development work and was keen to enhance our processes.”

At the heart of the Formicary implementation for Redburn was the migration from Parlano MindAlign to Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat to enhance communications.

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Business ChallengeThe company needed to integrate customer transaction processes and wanted to give its sales employees and stock analysts easier access to the flow of information.

CEBP SolutionThe company deployed a Formicary solution that combines Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and the Group Chat feature in Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2. The solution takes customer sales information and publishes it into Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat to improve information flow.

ROI Employees can easily share information about customers Cross-selling is encouraged because sales teams are better informed Analysts have improved intelligence on stocks and customers, which gives sales teams faster response times Redburn expects to reach full ROI in less than 18 months Solution gives sales teams and analysts ability to work more cohesively, quickly, and effectively

The Formicary solution gives employees a complete picture of all information relating to a customer. It automatically takes customer sales information from the order management system and publishes this into Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat chat rooms to facilitate the flow of information around the organization. Previously, this data could only be shared manually by the traders who were already the company’s most time-pressured staff.

Formicary has also integrated Formicary WebChat, an Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Instant Messaging and Group Chat web access solution, with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 in order to ensure that the solutions are fully optimized. For example, from Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat, Redburn workers can launch or view discussions within the WebChat application or click a link that goes directly to the specific

customer’s profile in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Employees can also click a link to visit a customer site in Office SharePoint Server 2007 that includes an RSS feed, updated industry news stories, and the customer’s sales history.

Culver continues, “Formicary WebChat integration of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 into Office SharePoint Server 2007 is

critical for us. Office SharePoint Server 2007 is likely to become a central technology for us and, in our opinion, the solution would not be complete without WebChat.”

WebChat has also added integrity to Office SharePoint Server 2007. “Having WebChat was identified early on as a true enabler in our securing user buy-in for the application,” says Culver. “Without it, we really felt that we would have been scraping the surface of what Office SharePoint Server 2007 is capable of.”

ROIThe new Formicary solution helps Redburn integrate key business processes, so teams can share ideas and information much easier than before. Redburn has also increased revenue and realized a full return on its investment.

Integrates Business ProcessesAs a pan-European organization, Redburn employees are globally dispersed. Now, individuals and teams can quickly and

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“Whether they are sitting next to each other or working in offices separated by thousands of miles, our sales teams and analysts are able to work much more cohesively, quickly, and effectively, ensuring maximum success for our investor clients.”

Peter Culver, IT Manager, Redburn Partners

easily create and share Group Chat discussions about customers, ensuring that all parties, regardless of where they are located, have access to the same knowledge and most accurate information to share with Redburn customers. All discussions are recorded for historical knowledge and legal purposes.

“Formicary has helped our teams share ideas and information like never before,” says Culver. “For example, if a salesperson is on a call with a customer wondering about a stock, he or she can now open a chat room backed by dozens of other Redburn professionals, including analysts, to discuss the latest market information. Salespeople can also use Microsoft Dynamics CRM to view all recent trades that the customer made or to read the day’s stock news in the RSS feed in Office SharePoint Server 2007. Additionally, by disseminating the information flow from the order management system, we believe that our teams are better informed, which should promote cross-selling.”

Boosts Revenue Through Faster Response TimesEasier access to current customer data and financial information has helped the Redburn sales teams provide real-time responses to questions that come up on customer calls. As a result, the company has seen a boost in revenue, which, in turn, will help drive the business forward.

Expects to Achieve ROI in 18 MonthsCulver concludes, “Formicary has had a massive, positive impact on our business, so much so that we are on target for the implementation to achieve full return on investment in less than 18 months.

Whether they are sitting next to each other or working in offices separated by thousands of miles, our sales teams and analysts are able to work much more cohesively, quickly, and effectively, ensuring maximum success for our investor clients. Moving forward, we hope to enhance the solution by adding detail and promoting a better level of directing information to the relevant people.”

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Microsoft CEBPCommunications-enabled business processes (CEBP) based on the Microsoft Unified Communications platform offer businesses three ways to increase productivity: Contextual collaboration. Helps users

communicate efficiently by providing context about their communications.

Business Process Communications. Reduces human delay in business processes, so people can contact decision makers when they’re needed.

Anywhere-access capabilities. Users can interact with computers via natural speech, using the telephone or IM in a fully automated way.

For more information about the Microsoft Office system, go to: www.microsoft.com/communicationsserver

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For More InformationFor more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the United States and Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: www.microsoft.com

For more information about Formicary products and services, call 44 (0) 20 7920 7100 or visit the website at: www.formicary.net

For more information about Redburn Partners products and services, call 44 (0)20 7000 2020 or visit the website at: www.redburn.com

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

Document published June 2010

Software and Services Microsoft Office− Microsoft Office Communications

Server 2007 R2− Microsoft Office SharePoint Server

2007 Microsoft Server Product Portfolio− Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

Partner Formicary