Automating a modular management system for accelerated performance

At Global Mediator, a software engineering house with over 11 years of expertise in Business Central software engineering, we used to leverage a handful of management tools like Business Central (earlier NAV), Jira Software, Tempo Timesheets, Dynamics 365 CRM, and Power Platform (Apps and Automate) for successful internal operations.

Although individually helpful, these tools were siloed and required a fair amount of manual interaction with data. This barely accelerated internal processes. Eventually, our team decided to rethink the management system structure: linking and automating internal tools through complex integration.

In a nutshell, our pros had to cope with the following challenges along the way:

⦁ Eliminate the risks on the enterprise level that disconnected tools may entail (double entries, typos) to enhance data analysis and strategic decision-making.

⦁ Smoothen the internal operations by connecting the management system elements in a flexible manner.

⦁ Boost the cooperation between our departments with automated workflows.

⦁ Minimize manual data input across internal departments.

⦁ Simplify the maintenance of the modular management solution and make it more scalable.

⦁ Enhance the organizational structure of our master data.

The case in numbers

50 hours

– per month saving manager’s time

8 modules

consolidated into 1 system

8 specialists

engaged

Solution

We chose home-built bots based on Power Apps development to bind all the elements we use under a single consolidated management system and automate multiple workflows.

Full integration helps us:

01 Shorten the sales cycles for projects.

Building matrixes like Opportunities (CRM), Availability of Consultants (BC), and Skill Sets (BC, HR) helps us match the available specialists with necessary skill sets with specific projects faster at the pre-sales phase.

02 Become more adaptive.

From the opportunities tracked in CRM, we easily see what skill sets we need to nurture inside the organization to satisfy the market needs. These matrixes in action give us more flexibility to stay alert in the ever-changing business world.

03 Speed up internal communication.

The Sales, Marketing, Development, Finance, IT, and HR modules now communicate faster and far more efficiently, with less manual interaction and errors (like typos and duplicated records). The whole set of connectors speeds up internal information processing and saves up to 50 hours of managers' time (both mid and C-level) per month.

04 Create a scalable and flexible solution.

Unlike monolith solutions, this collection of blocks is easy to adapt to specific needs and scale up: it can be connected with different variations. So, we can recreate similar integration for any organization with its specific set of connectors and company needs. Such an approach provides full control over any possible challenges, needs, or changes that businesses may face.

05 Enhance data organization.

The modular management system keeps master data securely organized in the respective source of truth: customers’ database in Dynamics 365 CRM, project information in Jira, consultants’ hours in Tempo Timesheets, our users in Azure AD, our finance information (e.g., costs and invoices in BC), and BI reporting – in Power Bi.