Advance Network Management (ANM) is one of the USA's leading IT service providers, responsible for upgrading and maintaining the IT infrastructure for over 400 clients. They work closely with Cisco, EMC, Microsoft, NetApp, VMware and F5, among others.
Within the typical inquiry-to-order workflow, ANM found that the quoting process was a key bottleneck to efficiency and customer satisfaction. Generating an Estimate or Deal registration from CCW (Cisco Commerce Workspace) used to also mean doing multiple Excel copy/pastes, where everything happened at the file level and there was no way to analyse profitability across multiple deals and at the item level.
The process was not just time-consuming but financially risky as well. Working with complex Excel documents made it far more likely that an accounting error might pass unnoticed to a client. So ANM appointed StrataVAR, a specialist in developing apps for Cisco Reseller Partners, to replace the Excel approach with a fully CCW and ERP-integrated quoting solution.
"Part of delivering a highly efficient IT infrastructure is having the responsiveness and flexibility to make changes. Fast and accurate quoting is a big part of that. What's more, we need the software to have excellent customization features so that PqW can align with our specific requirements. That's where StrataVAR is strong." explained Sean MacKirdy, ANM's Support Manager.
With its Partner Quoting Workspace (PqW) solution, StrataVAR streamlines and accelerates the process of generating professional and profitable customer quotes, while seamlessly integrating with CCW and CCW-R. PqW allows various 'Ship To' addresses to be defined during the quoting process. The sourcing partner (Distributor) can be named at the Quote Item level. What's more, PqW's open API makes it easy to integrate with ANM's CRM (Salesforce) and ERP (FinancialForce).
PqW's impact on ANM's productivity has been remarkable. An average quotation with more than 100’s of lines of Cisco equipment can now be completed in around 30 minutes - five times faster than before. In six months, ANM has increased the number of quotes by a factor of two compared to when using the old (Excel- dependent) tools. Skilled sales teams quickly mastered the new tool and are now far more productive.
"Whether the quote is a draft version or an actual decision-bearing document, this new scalability and flexibility makes everything work as it should. The system has much greater output, our clients are delighted with our responsiveness and business is rolling." adds Sean.
ANM and StrataVAR are currently deepening their connection to embrace the scope beyond Cisco and thereby offer ANM a 360° view to all their quoting needs. This included greater focus on SaaS and CCW-R renewal quotes.
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