Overview



Overview

Country or Region: United States

Industry: Manufacturing

Customer Profile

Based in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services, and Internet technologies for personal and business computing.

Business Situation

Microsoft needed a centralized reporting solution that would help its North American sales and marketing organization create consistent reports that could easily be rolled up for district, regional, and corporate use.

Solution

The company deployed a Monthly Business Review (MBR) Dashboard based on Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 Analysis Services, and running on Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 Enterprise Edition.

Benefits

■ Better visibility into the business

■ Rapid return on investment

■ Data consistency

■ Ease of use

■ Fast time-to-market

| | |“Reporting Services gives us the real-time information we need to better manage our business and to make sure the right resources are focused in the highest value areas—and at the right time.”

Paul Houghton, Vice President, East Region Enterprise, Microsoft

| |

| | | |As the largest software development company in the world, with annual revenue exceeding U.S.$34 |

| | | |billion, Microsoft has efficient sales and marketing organizations. But these organizations suffered |

| | | |from the disparate and time-consuming manner in which sales and marketing reports were assembled. |

| | | |Microsoft wanted to provide a central data source for reporting that would produce information that |

| | | |could easily be rolled up with other district and regional reports to gain a better view into the |

| | | |business. Blackstone & Cullen, a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, created a Monthly Business Review|

| | | |(MBR) Dashboard using Microsoft |

| | | |SQL Server™ 2000 Reporting Services. The solution has brought consistency to reporting across the |

| | | |company, and has greatly reduced the time that used to be spent assembling monthly reports—providing |

| | | |for an estimated ROI of just two weeks. |

| | | | |

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| | | | |

Situation

Microsoft Corporation, the largest software development company in the world, has annual revenues exceeding U.S.$34 billion and operations in 89 countries. It takes a well-coordinated sales and marketing effort to produce such sales, especially when dealing with business customers that can have a long sales cycle.

Like marketing and sales organizations everywhere, Microsoft needed an IT solution to help it monitor sales results on a district, regional, and national level, across a number of product groupings. Microsoft sales and marketing organizations meet once a month to measure performance to plan, and to study the sales pipeline—with prospective sales entering at one end of the pipe, and completed sales exiting from the other. These one-day monthly business reviews, called Rhythm of the Business meetings, had proven effective in identifying the health of the business pipeline across product lines and geographies, and in measuring key performance indicators such as the velocity of the pipeline—the time it takes for a prospective sale to be completed.

As Microsoft looked for ways to improve efficiencies of its sales and marketing efforts, it identified two problems with the existing system:

■ Meeting preparation was taking too much time, as managers spent one to three days, and sometimes more, downloading information from several databases to create a Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheet for the meeting.

■ Information consistency was a problem because people were creating their own data aggregation.

“We heard from our people on the district and regional levels that it was taking so much time to pull the data together for the monthly business reviews, that they didn’t have the time they wanted to analyze the findings and use the findings to take action according to the data,” says Katherine Randolph, Project Manager at Microsoft. “Additionally, managers found it difficult to analyze the findings across districts or regions because when you have a couple of hundred people pulling together their own reports, they simply aren’t going to be the same reports. People pulled data from different databases and created reports that, while similar, weren’t the same and couldn’t easily be rolled up with others.”

“We needed a business intelligence tool,” says Thomas Koedding, Director, East Region Business and Marketing Operations at Microsoft. “We needed a central source where our people could quickly and easily get the exact information they needed, in a way that ensured consistency so there would be no doubt about the validity and relevance of the data.”

As the sales and marketing organizations considered solutions, key criteria included:

■ A central reporting tool to enable consistency in reporting by aggregate and the integration of data from disparate finance, sales, and marketing sources.

■ Ability to identify the source of all data.

■ Ease of use to reduce the time spent creating reports.

■ Ability to “drill-down” from overview information to detailed data.

■ Ability to filter easily among different geographies, products, and timeframes to suit the different needs of users across the organization.

■ A solution that could be completed as quickly as possible.

Solution

Blackstone & Cullen, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, worked with the sales and marketing organizations at Microsoft to identify the types of reports most commonly needed on the district, regional, and corporate levels. The company also worked with Microsoft to identify the key databases that needed to be accessed for reporting.

The solutions partner used this information to design and build the Monthly Business Review (MBR) Dashboard. Like the dashboard in a car, the MBR Dashboard is designed to provide a rich source of information at a glance—with the added ability to drill down from overview information into detailed data, and then to drill back up to high-level information. The internal application, which was created using the Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET 2003 development system, has been deployed throughout all of the Microsoft North American operations.

The MBR Dashboard is based on a multi-tier architecture, co-hosted on a single-processor Intel-based computer running Microsoft

SQL Server™ 2000 Enterprise Edition and the Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 Enterprise Edition. Both the Windows Server 2003 operating system and SQL Server 2000 are part of Microsoft Windows Server System™ integrated server software.

The solution also uses the SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) feature from the beta edition of SQL Server 2005, the next-generation data management and analysis environment from Microsoft. SSIS replaces SQL Server 2000 Data Transformation Services (DTS) for performing extract, transform, and load (ETL) processes.

The tiers include:

■ Reporting Tier. The MBR Dashboard, based on SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services and supported by Internet Information Services (IIS) version 6.0, provides the central source for all reporting. Visual Studio software was used to design the reports.

■ ETL Tier. Information is imported into the MBR Dashboard database from a number of Microsoft data stores, using SSIS to perform ETL processes.

■ Data Tier. Information is stored in a relational database running on a single instance of SQL Server 2000. Plans call for the database to be upgraded to the beta edition of SQL Server 2005.

■ Analytics Tier. Analytics is currently performed using Transact SQL (T-SQL) stored procedures. Blackstone & Cullen is in the process of upgrading the solution to use SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services, the online analytical processing (OLAP) component in SQL Server.

“We used SQL Server and Reporting Services to build an aggregation engine,” says Lee Blackstone, President of Blackstone & Cullen. “We’ve aggregated information from about a dozen major Microsoft data stores, including Seibel and MS Sales. The MBR Dashboard helps managers to pull relevant data together from disparate sources into actionable, flexible views with deep drill-down capability.”

Benefits

Microsoft has enjoyed a number of benefits since deployment of its MBR Dashboard, including better visibility into the business, rapid return on investment (ROI), data consistency, ease of use, and fast time-to-market.

Better Visibility into the Business

The MBR Dashboard has given Microsoft exactly what it needed—better visibility into its business. “Reporting Services provides a powerful and easy-to-use interface for the MBR Dashboard,” says Randolph. “The graphics let you check the health of the business with just a glance, while the deep drill-down capabilities allow you to get more information whenever needed.”

The MBR Dashboard makes it easy to find exactly the information you need. “Someone working on the regional level could, for example, use the MBR Dashboard to view all of the SQL Server business currently in the pipeline, and then drill down to look at the figures on a district basis, or to see specific deals in process, including the identity of the sales representative working with the customer,” says Koedding. “Or, you could look at the Enterprise Agreement deals in process. The value goes on and on. There are more than 100 different dashboard displays that you can get to by drilling down for more data.”

The improved visibility into the business has been appreciated at all levels, including at corporate. “We needed to have a clear vision of the business in Redmond, as well as in the field,” says Randolph. “Our goal is to be on a very predictable cycle of reviewing business results against goal and making course corrections. The MBR Dashboard, by centralizing information that used to be dispersed across multiple data sources, is helping all of us stay on course. It is very powerful to be able to look at your pipeline health and quickly see where deals have been stalled. It gives our people in the field the chance to jump in and change things. The MBR Dashboard is providing rich insights across the business.”

The solution is also providing near real-time data that is refreshed on a daily basis, compared to the reports that used to be pulled together on a monthly basis. “The MBR Dashboard is a great piece of work,” says Paul Houghton, Vice President, East Region Enterprise at Microsoft. “Reporting Services gives us the real-time information we need to better manage our business and to make sure the right resources are focused in the highest value areas—and at the right time.”

Rapid ROI

The MBR Dashboard provided Microsoft with an extremely rapid ROI. The project team calculates an ROI of less than two weeks. The ROI figures are based on:

■ Average time spent downloading data: reduced from 20 minutes to 10 seconds

■ Average time returned back to each user: 2.33 hours per month (The team says this is a conservative figure, as many would spend a day or more each month assembling their reports.)

■ Average loaded cost of an employee: U.S.$100 per hour

■ Number of potential users in Microsoft North American operations: 6,000

■ Value of recovered employee time:

$16.8 million

■ Available incremental revenue based on $471,000 per employee multiplied by a 24.5 percent operating income:

$9.66 million benefit

■ Investment in the MBR Dashboard to date: $400,000

■ ROI break even: Less than 2 weeks

The actual benefit is likely much higher, as these figures only look at time spent downloading information. It doesn’t cover the time that used to be spent assembling custom reports and scorecards, and trying to integrate disparate reports from different individuals, districts, and regions. The problem was further complicated because, within a district, an account team might have one set of figures, and the marketing team another.

“We are all gaining productivity with this solution,” says Koedding. “Using the Reporting Services data from the MBR Dashboard, everyone can be far more action oriented.”

Data Consistency

The MBR Dashboard provides data consistency, which is a major benefit across the organization. “A manager who works with seven different districts now knows that when he gets the information it will be in the same format and using the same data sources,” says Koedding. “The MBR Dashboard relieves the inefficiencies that used to result from a manager trying to pull consistent information from a set of reports that may have been drawn from different sources and created in different ways.”

Blackstone & Cullen designed the solution so that whenever the mouse hovers over a particular cell on the MBR Dashboard, a text box pops up to describe the exact source of the data. “We used Microsoft [Office] Live Meeting to gather managers from around the country to get consensus on what sources should be used for each report,” says Blackstone. “Reporting Services has brought clarity and consistency to the reporting. Everyone knows what the numbers mean, and this wasn’t always the case.”

Ease of Use

SQL Server Reporting Services was a key element in creating the easy-to-use MBR Dashboard. “Reporting Services is great to work with because it can display tables, charts, and filters all on the same page,” says Cathy Johnson, Practice Manager for Business Intelligence at Blackstone & Cullen. “Reporting Services also makes it simple to link from the dashboard to Web sites or other pages in Reporting Services that you’ve created. From one spot you can go or do just about anything.”

Reporting Services also makes it easy to print or export reports to a range of formats, including HTML, Excel, and Adobe PDF.

“We are getting tremendous feedback from users in the field,” says Randolph. “The MBR Dashboard, in many cases, is saving a dozen hours a month per person. I’ve had people tell me: ‘You’ve made my life easier.’ We’ve even incorporated a green, yellow, red color coding, so people can immediately see where attention is needed. Green numbers are like a green traffic light, all systems are go. When you see metrics coded in yellow or red, it is like they are flagged for your attention. And because you can drill down into the numbers, it is easy to investigate to see what actions might get things back on course.”

Fast Time-to-Market

Blackstone & Cullen credits Reporting Services with the rapid delivery time the company was able to provide. “We built the first phase of the project in three months using a single developer and a half-time project manager,” says Blackstone. “Working with Reporting Services and Visual Studio .NET 2003, development went swiftly. Everything just works together. This made our customer happy, because when Microsoft asked us to create the MBR Dashboard, they had already determined that they really needed it. They weren’t looking at the calendar. They were looking at their watch.”

Microsoft Windows Server System

Microsoft Windows Server System integrated server infrastructure software is designed to support end-to-end solutions built on Windows Server 2003. It creates an infrastructure based on integrated innovation, Microsoft’s holistic approach to building products and solutions that are intrinsically designed to work together and interact seamlessly with other data and applications across your IT environment. This helps you reduce the costs of ongoing operations, deliver a more secure and reliable IT infrastructure, and drive valuable new capabilities for the future growth of your business.

For more information about Windows Server System, go to:

‌windowsserversystem

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“Using the Reporting Services data from the MBR Dashboard, everyone can be far more action oriented.”

Thomas Koedding, Director, East Region Business and Marketing Operations, Microsoft

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| |Software and Services

Windows Server System

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition

− Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition

− Microsoft SQL Server 2005 beta edition

■ Microsoft Office System

− Microsoft Office Live Meeting

■ Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003

■ Technologies

− Internet Information Services version 6.0

|Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services

− Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services

Hardware

■ Intel-based server

Partners

■ Blackstone & Cullen | |

“Reporting Services provides a powerful and easy-to-use interface for the MBR Dashboard. The graphics let you check the health of the business with just a glance, while the deep drill-down capabilities allow you to get more information whenever needed.”

Katherine Randolph, Project Manager, Microsoft

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© 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. Microsoft, Excel, Visual Studio, the Windows logo, Windows Server, and Windows Server System are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Document published July 2005 | | |

For More Information

For 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 )*34ATfpéþ» × â fh~€

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Ù who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:

For more information about Blackstone & Cullen products and services, call (770) 612-1550 or visit the Web site at: bac-

Dashboard - The MBR Dashboard brings together data from several sources to provide an easy-to-use central source of information on a district, regional, or national level. (Proprietary data not shown.)

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Summary View - The MBR Dashboard provides the data needed to move business forward. (Proprietary data not shown.)

Drill Down - The MBR Dashboard provides a wealth of data that helps users gauge the health of the business with just a glance, while supporting drill-down details. (Proprietary data not shown.)

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