Microsoft DynamicsPartner Solution Case Study

ISV Saves Development Time, Expands Reach by Building on a Powerful ERP Solution

OverviewCountry or Region: FranceIndustry: Manufacturing—High tech and electronics manufacturing—Software publishing; Professional services—IT services

Partner ProfileGFI Progiciels is the leading provider of financial and human resources systems to French public-sector organizations and is a subsidiary of the international IT services firm GFI Informatique.

Business SituationLooking to grow beyond its core market, GFI Progiciels wanted an enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform to extend its solution capabilities. The company sought greater functional capabilities, a consistent technology stack, and a strong business partner.

SolutionGFI Progiciels agreed to create the next version of its solution on Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and joined the Microsoft Technology Adoption Program to help guide development of the product.

Benefits Flexibility to meet unique needs Faster application development Expanded market opportunities Standardized technology

“We see this solution as combining the domain expertise of GFI Progiciels with a robust technology platform that yields benefits for our company, our customers, and Microsoft.”

Christophe Guillemin, IT Program Manager, GFI Progiciels

GFI Progiciels leads the market for financial and human resources solutions for the French public sector but wanted to expand its offerings by adding operational capabilities, such as for manufacturing, distribution, and service management. A longtime partner of several top-tier ERP vendors, GFI Progiciels chose to engage in the Microsoft Technology Adoption Program and create a new business management solution based on Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. GFI Progiciels and Microsoft are working together to create an offering that combines deep public-sector expertise with strong, general ERP platform capabilities. As a result, GFI Progiciels can focus its development on functional areas unique to the French public sector and work with a consistent technology stack. Customers will benefit from greater flexibility, tight integration with Microsoft Office, and simpler IT management requirements.

SituationGFI Progiciels, a subsidiary of the international IT services firm GFI Informatique, provides financial management and human resources solutions to the French public sector. Having developed these solutions since 1993, GFI Progiciels offers unparalleled knowledge of its target market coupled with strong technical skills.

“We hold a leading position in financial accounting systems for French public-sector entities, including local authorities, utilities, and public institutions,” says Christophe Guillemin, IT Program Manager for GFI Progiciels. “We plan to expand into a broader market by offering our customers a more holistic ERP solution, including capabilities we had not offered in our legacy solutions, such as manufacturing, distribution, project management, and service management.”

The direction GFI Progiciels plans to take will put it in direct competition with large enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors. Although GFI Progiciels has an advantage in terms of knowledge of the industry, it needs to standardize on a consistent technology platform to compete.

“Our legacy solutions relied on a variety of technologies, including Oracle databases and Java and Microsoft .NET programming languages,” says Guillemin. “This diversity proved to be a growing challenge to our development efforts and to our customers because it required them to hire IT professionals with a wide range of skills.”

SolutionGFI Progiciels sought a consistent technology platform that would also provide its customers with world-class ERP functionality. The company evaluated solutions from leading ERP vendors, including Microsoft, Oracle, and Sage. Because of its longtime partnerships with each of these companies, GFI Progiciels was intimately knowledgeable about their respective strengths and weaknesses. Eventually, the company chose to build the next version of its public-sector business management solution on Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.

“We were impressed with the improvements that Microsoft was making in meeting the needs of the public sector,” says Guillemin. “After discussing the opportunity with our peers at Microsoft, we agreed that an industry-specific solution built on Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and targeted at the French public sector would benefit both companies.”

A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, GFI Progiciels is currently developing the new version of its business management solution for French public-sector organizations. The new solution will serve GFI Progiciels’s current customers and appeal to new customers that need more general ERP capabilities, such as service management, project management, production, and distribution. Meanwhile, GFI Progiciels also participates in the Microsoft Technology Adoption Program for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, providing feedback to Microsoft on early versions of the software. GFI Progiciels plans to have the new version of its solution based on

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“Visual Studio is one of the best integrated development environments ever. Now, our developers can complete more of their work in just one tool.”

Luc Fournier, Technical Manager, GFI Progiciels

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 available within six months.

The new solution takes advantage of standard functionality included in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, a new approach for GFI Progiciels, which had previously developed software entirely on its own. “Through the Technology Adoption Program, we can help guide the development of the standard product modules at Microsoft,” says Guillemin. “In addition, we are no longer responsible for managing that work or updating the code for subsequent versions.”

GFI Progiciels focuses its own development efforts on extending the standard solution to meet the unique needs of the French public sector. For instance, the new GFI Progiciels solution will include Role Centers designed for common roles in a French public-sector organization. By modifying the standard roles included in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, GFI Progiciels created specialized views that simplify tasks for unique roles at public-sector groups, such as departmental directors and accountants.

“Development for the new solution is much simpler than with legacy versions, thanks to the consistent technical platform underlying all the modules,” says Luc Fournier, Technical Manager for GFI Progiciels. “We benefit tremendously from the ability to share code between modules and between the rich client and the Enterprise Portal client.”

The GFI Progiciels development team can complete most of its work in Microsoft Visual Studio, but even tasks that require working in the development environment

of Microsoft Dynamics AX are easier because of improvements in the X++ editor. Developers save the code they create in both the X++ editor and Visual Studio to Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, which automates code-testing tasks and records quality information.

BenefitsThe cooperation between GFI Progiciels and Microsoft benefits both companies and the public-sector organizations in France that would use the solution. “We see this solution as combining the domain expertise of GFI Progiciels with a robust technology platform that yields benefits for our company, our customers, and Microsoft,” says Guillemin.

Flexibility to Meet Unique NeedsGuillemin anticipates the new solution will cover more customer requirements by using out-of-the-box functionality. “With Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, we can easily implement world-class ERP functionality for our customers, according to their unique needs,” he says. “Our legacy solutions are quick to deploy, but customization requires time. With our new solution, we gain flexibility while keeping the advantage of fast implementations.”

Faster Application DevelopmentWorking with a consistent technology platform helps GFI Progiciels to develop quality solutions faster. “Relying on the framework in Microsoft Dynamics AX allows us to build new features much faster than from scratch,” says Guillemin.

“Visual Studio is one of the best integrated development environments ever,” says Fournier. “Now, our developers can

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“Many of our existing users are financial accountants who use Excel on a daily basis. By using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, it’s simple for these people to access ERP data from Excel.”

Christophe Guillemin, IT Program Manager, GFI Progiciels

complete more of their work in just one tool. The .NET Framework, Visual Studio, and Visual Studio Team Foundation Server form a consistent toolset that helps us accomplish more with less effort.”

Fournier credits Visual Studio Team Foundation Server with helping to strengthen the application development life cycle at GFI Progiciels. “Now, we can manage our entire project in Visual Studio Team Foundation Server and implement measures to ensure that our code quality meets Microsoft requirements,” he says.

Expanded Market OpportunitiesBy building on a world-class ERP platform, GFI Progiciels can expand beyond its core market of public-sector institutions that are focused on financial transactions. “The new solution built on Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 will benefit our existing customers and appeal to a larger group of French public-sector firms that have operational and production requirements,” explains Guillemin. “We plan to migrate our existing customers to the new solution over the next few years while also gaining new accounts.”

Standardized TechnologyThe new solution uses a consistent set of Microsoft products and technologies, making it easier for both GFI Progiciels and its customers to find skilled professionals. “Customers no longer need to staff several expensive positions to maintain and administer the solution,” says Guillemin. “Instead, they only need people who have the general skills needed to work with Microsoft products.”

Building on Microsoft technology also benefits the people who use the solution and lets them enjoy a more seamless experience with the business management software and Microsoft Office applications, such as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Outlook. “Many of our existing users are financial accountants who use Excel on a daily basis,” says Guillemin. “By using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, it’s simple for these people to access ERP data from Excel. There are other integration advantages, too, such as the ability to receive notifications in Outlook, share information by using Microsoft SharePoint Server, and even communicate by using Microsoft Lync.”

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Microsoft DynamicsMicrosoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systems that your company already has implemented. By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship, and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes, and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success.  For more information about Microsoft Dynamics, go to:www.microsoft.com/dynamics

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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 GFI Progiciels products and services, call 33 1 44 04 50 00 or visit the website at: www.gfi.fr

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

Document published May 2011

Software and Services Microsoft Dynamics− Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

Microsoft Programs and Practices− Microsoft Technology Adoption

Program

Microsoft Visual Studio− Microsoft Visual Studio− Microsoft Visual Studio Team

Foundation Server Technologies− Microsoft .NET Framework