Spy Opts For Microsoft CRM

Microsoft (News - Alert) has announced that Spy Optic Inc., a Carlsbad, California-based designer and manufacturer of eyewear and accessories, has selected Microsoft Dynamics GP for its new, overall enterprise resource planning and Microsoft Dynamics CRM to manage its customer and vendor relations.

The company, which has 125 employees, will use the technology to "streamline interactions with its European headquarters in Lombardo, Italy," according to Spy officials. Spy Optic distributes to more than 5,000 retail locations in the U.S., with plans to expand to markets in Australia and Europe.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 1-3, 2009. Los Angeles, CA.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 1-3, 2009. Los Angeles, CA.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 1-3, 2009. Los Angeles, CA.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 1-3, 2009. Los Angeles, CA.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 1-3, 2009. Los Angeles, CA.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 1-3, 2009. Los Angeles, CA.

The combination of a recent public offering and the welcoming of a new chief information officer evidently convinced Spy Optic that it was a good time to rejig their production, inventory, sales and customer data management, all of which were distributed throughout various nonintegrated IT systems.

"We expect the adoption… to be a day-and-night change for this company," said Erik Quade, CIO for Spy Optic. "Our goal is growth. From increasing the effectiveness of our sales and customer relations efforts to drastically improving order fulfillment and business analytics on the back end."

The company will use Microsoft Dynamics GP to move to a paperless model, which it projects may reduce order processing and SKU setup time by up to 50 percent. In addition, the company anticipates that new credit card automation functionality may potentially save up to 30 labor hours per month by reducing data entry of cash receipts by approximately 30 percent.

British professional services firm Control Risks has announced it will be rolling out Microsoft CRM to 650 staff in five continents, according to industry observer Jo Best.

According to the company, Best says, "the new system will help employees better share information across its regional offices and improve its services."

The risk consultancy decided to upgrade its CRM suite following a strategic review of the business. Martin Joy, CIO of Control Risks, told Best: "The incumbent CRM system was not fit for purpose. It wasn't scaleable and universally accessible." According to Joy, Microsoft had not previously figured in Control Risks' CRM options, as it was not considered mature. "It's come of age now," he told Best.

Spy Optic will also leverage the new product in its warehouse facility, where integration with handheld scanning technology may increase inventory management and distribution time proficiency as much as 90 percent.

Spy Optic chose Microsoft Dynamics CRM for its customer and vendor relationship management functionality, Microsoft officials say, as well as the way in which it feels for employees already familiar with Microsoft Office Outlook and other programs.

David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. For more articles please visit David Sims’ columnist page.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]