Microsoft Dynamics and Columbus IT hold first customer technology update session

Held at the convention centre in Grand Hyatt, the session attracted attendees from across Columbus' wide install base spread across the Middle East region, including delegates from Qatar and Oman.

The event was conducted in coordination with the regional Microsoft Dynamics team, and the occasion was used to convey Microsoft's latest developments on their core enterprise business solutions comprising of ERP solutions Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics AX, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

With senior IT and management executives present from regional and global firms, the event covered relevant topics such as the role of technology in overcoming current business challenges, the changing nature of technology investment and the utility of business solutions in increasing organizational efficiency and agility.

The half-day function also covered the growing importance of Customer Relationship Management and Business Intelligence solutions in proactively managing organizational performance and growth.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Manjeet Singh, Managing Director, Columbus IT said, "It was a great experience to speak to several of our customers in a single room. With a growing base of customers, we had planned this annual event to build a common platform to convey the latest technical and consulting information, build a community of our users and extract feedback from our customers."

"The technology session gave us an opportunity to share some of our key achievements from 2008, which included the creation of a customer care team, the opening of offices in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, several team additions as well as the introduction of vertical solutions for the construction and retail industries. We also detailed our organizational plans for 2009, and obtained critical feedback from our user community on our strategic initiatives such as the development of a 24x7 support centre, the development of a payroll add-on aimed at Microsoft Dynamics AX and the addition of Microsoft Sharepoint practice to our portfolio of offerings," Mr. Manjeet added.

Speaking on the role of technology investment in today's economic situation, Mr. Kalpesh Desai, Advisor to the Board, Columbus IT eloquently said, "It has become essential for companies to be agile in adapting to changing market conditions, and business solutions have become the platform for driving innovation across any organization. While terms such as data visibility and process efficiency are very important, they lose relevance if data cannot be productively used in a timely manner for quality decision-making. Hence, the need for an organization to consider tools that will effectively helps them mine that data and hence evolve a customer centric business model that can leverage customer relationship management tools."

Giving the Microsoft Dynamics perspective, Mr. Ahmed Salama, Microsoft Business Solutions Product and Channel Manager remarked, "The event was a very useful session for us as we got to directly interact with some of our enterprise customers in the region. From their implementation experiences to current business challenges, we discussed at length with customers on how Microsoft Dynamics could play a key role in meeting key business objectives. We also used the opportunity to update customers on the features of Microsoft Dynamics NAV and AX 2009, as well the role of an aggressive CRM strategy in overcoming the economic slowdown."

"Columbus IT's first customer technology update session was a very insightful time for us. Being a recent Microsoft Dynamics and Columbus IT customer, the event included important sessions that highlighted the extendibility and upcoming features of our solution, Microsoft Dynamics NAV. These inputs will definitely help us in planning the usage of the ERP solution, and the deployment of new processes and systems within Barcode Gulf," said Columbus IT customer - Mr. Murli Nair, Managing Director, Barcode Gulf.

The occasion also provided an opportunity for attendees to network with other Columbus IT customers to understand implementation experiences, support procedures and various other aspects of the business solutions deployment and maintenance framework.