IT project to boost resilience and growth for Rowan
International completes on-time and on-budget despite
ambitious timescale
European discount channel experts Rowan International have completed a £1million
investment in state-of-the-art, high-availability technology to strengthen their position as a
market-leading distributor. The successful IT project, which would typically take eighteen
months, was delivered in just nine thanks to close partnerships with suppliers Binary
Consultants, Cambridge Online, ERP Advisors and SBA Systems.
Robust state-of-the-art technology
After a thorough review of their systems in 2013 Rowan identified that performance and resilience were the
foundations for future business growth, and quickly engaged systems provider SBA Systems to overhaul
their IT and telecoms infrastructure. The key objective was to ensure all systems responded quickly so
Rowan could better serve their clients; from stock availability to sales and logistics planning.
SBA systems installed brand new, highly-available virtualized infrastructure to support Rowan’s current
operations, as well as offer a resilient platform for the new version of Dynamics CRM and Dynamics AX.
Whole-site Wi-Fi was installed too, ready for deployment of handheld devices with real-time information
from every area of the business. As part of a major warehouse expansion, a purpose-built secondary server
room was also built to house a replica system for continuous uptime.
“This massive investment and realisation of our IT strategy puts Rowan firmly at the forefront of its sector with technology
to complement our commercial and operational functions. I am extremely proud of the work that both our internal
technical team and our partners have put in, which enables us to achieve such an impressive development of the systems
necessary to support our commercial vision & strategic direction”
- Mat Piears, Financial Director at Rowan International & Executive Sponsor
Competitive-edge gained in just one week
Rowan’s buying and selling teams have been heavy users of Dynamics CRM for several years, using it to
record and track all communications - that made the system a high priority for capacity upgrades. Cambridge
Online rose to the challenge, upgrading Rowan’s current system to the very latest Microsoft Dynamics CRM
2013 in November 2014, with a smooth transition between old version and new in just a single weekend.
Within its first week, Dynamics CRM 2013 delivered new reporting and insights into customer interaction,
plus its modern UI and improved integration with Outlook and the new phone system brought immediate
benefits to staff and customers alike.
"The CRM upgrade was very successful. During the process, we took the opportunity to add new reporting and analysis
capabilities as well as include custom fields to map data between CRM and AX in readiness for future integration of the
two systems. We look forward to the next release of CRM and plan to upgrade at the point we integrate it with AX."
- David Bushell, IT Manager at Rowan International
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Failure was never an option
Rowan recognised that diligent project management is key to avoiding the fate of many IT projects of this
magnitude, so invited ERP Advisers to project manage from the outset. As partners, they also helped with
the vendor selection process, end-user training and go-live support in the operation phase of the project.
After a thorough vendor selection process, Binary were chosen to implement the Microsoft Dynamics AX
project. They were chosen for their exceptional experience working with AX and their ability to roll out
complex projects within tight deadlines, alongside their vision for what could be achieved.
Staying true to Rowan’s original goals of performance and resilience, Binary proposed bringing all business
processes within one unified system. Within it are extensive reporting and analysis capabilities and improved
real-time information, as demanded by their sales and buying teams. After an extensive period of cooperative
analysis and design sessions, the partnership produced a system with predictive and analytical business
intelligence which streamlines the commercial decision-making process.
Early-adopters
Rowan went ahead with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 - the latest release, with new warehouse and
transport management modules. Later, they also updated to the latest CU8 release, making them one of the
earliest adopters in the world.
“The implementation at Rowan was a highly challenging and interesting project for all of us at Binary. The successful
deployment of the project in such a tight timeframe was only made possible by the dedication and commitment of Rowan’s
key users and management.”
- Andrew Birch from Binary Consultants
Rowan also took advantage of Binary’s expertise pushing the boundaries of what Dynamics AX is capable
of. Binary built an integrated graphical map-based load planning component to improve Rowan’s logistic
and inventory management functions. In combination with rolling out mobile devices in their warehouses,
the functionality included in AX 2012 R3 will further streamline Rowan’s warehouse operations.
Successful delivery
The project went live on the 5th of January 2015 on time, within budget and with no disruptions to business
operations - proof of Rowan’s and its partners’ dedication to the success of the project. Rowan staff remain
both excited and impressed by the capabilities of their new software.
“This project was a testament to Binary’s hard work and skills which made the project a success – and on time! The new
AX 2012 has addressed the shortcomings of the current system and will allow me to move the business on from a data
management perspective. It will also provide the company with the tools to allow it to grow and move forward. I’m
extremely excited to be working on the very latest AX platform and exploring all the new options and features it can
provide us in the future.”
- Andrew Oliver, Technical Lead at Rowan International
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