Microsoft Dynamics
Partner Solution Case Study
Solutions Provider Drives Global Growth with
Vertical Focus and Partner Channel
Overview
Country or Region: Germany
Industry: Professional services—IT
services
Partner Profile
Modus Consult, based in Germany,
generates close to U.S.$28 million
annual revenue by providing several
vertically targeted software solutions
that integrate with Microsoft
Dynamics® NAV.
Business Situation
The company sought ways to grow
revenue and market share and enable
the business to continue to do well in a
slowing economy.
Solution
Modus Consult obtained Certified for
Microsoft Dynamics NAV status for its
solutions and extended its vertical
strategy to a growing international
partner network focused on three
vertical markets.
Benefits
 Generate fast, focused growth
 Produce revenue from channel
partners
 Establish sound credibility and
domain expertise
 Thrive during an economic downturn
“By pursuing strategic relationships with qualified
partners, we have created a vertical business model
that can scale globally to deliver the growth and
revenue we want to accomplish.”
Martin Schildmacher, Chairman, Modus Consult
Modus Consult, a German provider of vertical software solutions
that integrate with Microsoft Dynamics® NAV, sought ways to
grow its business and protect it from economic instabilities. The
company gained Certified for Microsoft Dynamics NAV
validation for its solutions and, with assistance from Microsoft®
partner account managers, identified potential reseller partners
in other countries. Then, Modus Consult developed a structured,
consistent approach to establishing partner relationships,
training and enabling partners, and taking vertical solutions to
international customers. Today, with the credibility asserted by
Certified for Microsoft Dynamics status and a global reseller
network, the company produces record revenue and serves
vertical customers around the world. And, by doing more
business in countries unaffected by economic slowing, Modus
Consult thrives in a down economy.
Situation
Building a Vertical Brand
Food production was the first vertical
market the company pursued. Having
observed that competitors mostly
supported the distribution aspects of
business operations, Modus Consult
decided to offer a more complete
approach. The company’s solution for
the food industry, modus foodvision,
integrates with Microsoft Dynamics NAV
to provide management for all business
processes and operations in companies
that make or process food items,
including production, quality control,
inventory management, and tracking of
items as they pass through production
and distribution.
Martin Schildmacher, Chairman of
Modus Consulting, explains the
company’s vertical strategy: “Our vertical
focus enables us to invest in team
expertise, closely follow industry trends,
and gain access to prospective
customers with a high level of
credibility.”
Through a large portfolio of interfaces
that Modus Consult developed, modus
foodvision connects with specialized
devices, such as scales, scanners, labeling
systems, warehouse management
systems, and grading devices. Modus
Consult representatives, who have deep
industry expertise, market the solution to
companies in the target vertical. As the
Modus Consult, founded in 1995, is a
Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner
headquartered in Gütersloh, Germany,
with branch offices in other German
cities. With the beginning of the new
century, Modus Consult decided to
leverage its rich industry-specific and
market-specific expertise to realize a
stronger competitive advantage and
follow a vertical market strategy for its
implementations of Microsoft Dynamics®
NAV. Because Modus Consult wanted to
pursue business in the food industry, it
subsequently acquired a software
company with a specialization in that
vertical.
Martin Schildmacher, Chairman
of Modus Consult
first Modus Consult vertical solution with
extensive functionality that the
competition cannot match, and in an
industry with a lot of opportunity for
technology to make a positive difference,
modus foodvision gained rapid
recognition and became a strong Modus
Consult brand.
Broadening the Portfolio
Subsequently, Modus Consult researched
and developed several other vertical
solutions that integrate with Microsoft
Dynamics NAV and that connect
business, production, and shop-floor
processes with specialized machines and
devices. They include modus plastics,
modus engineering, modus furniture, and
Modus BAUVISION; the last one
specifically addresses the needs of
German construction companies and is
not directly marketed internationally.
Because of strong direct sales as well as
channel sales for all of its vertical
solutions, Modus Consult has
The Modus Consult headquarters
in Gütersloh, Germany
approximately 1,000 customers in
Germany. Of these, close to 200 use
modus foodvision together with
Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Another
approximately 200 customers will
migrate to the same solution in the near
future. Looking to take the business to
the next level, company executives
began seeking opportunities to grow
revenue and market share. They also
wanted to find ways to make the
company more resilient in weathering
changes in the economic climate.
Solution
Close to 90 percent of Modus Consult’s
sales prospects and customers
extensively use Microsoft software in
their businesses, even before they
consider Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
Therefore, it made good sense for
Modus Consult to deepen its relationship
with Microsoft. In 2003, the company
formally committed to the Microsoft
vertical strategy. Modus Consult also
obtained Certified for Microsoft
Dynamics NAV recognition for all of its
solutions after they underwent thorough
testing and validation in a wide range of
demanding usage scenarios by Microsoft
technologists.
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“Obtaining Certified for
Microsoft Dynamics NAV
status proves the validity
of our solutions and
gives partners the
confidence to represent
and implement them for
customers.”
Birgit Merschmann, Manager of
International Operations, Modus Consult
Channeling Across the Globe
Modus Consult decided to enter the
international market with its most
mature and versatile solutions: modus
foodvision, modus engineering, and
modus plastics. The company already had
a specialized partner network,
comprising vendors of the specialized
devices and hardware that Modus
Consult software solutions integrate with,
and expanded the partner business
model to facilitate global growth. Says
Birgit Merschmann, Manager of
International Operations at Modus
Consult, “We chose a channel strategy
for our international business—engaging
with select partners who have industry
expertise and the ability to deliver
solutions to customers—because it
showed a promising combination of
economy, efficiency, and growth
potential.”
Starting with other western European
countries and moving in waves through
the world’s geographical regions, Modus
Consult’s international business
development consistently follows an
efficient pattern:
 Modus Consult performs market
analysis, which it combines with
market insight from Microsoft
available through the Microsoft
Partner Network.
 Microsoft points out potential partners
for consideration in a certain country
and vertical.
 Modus Consult engages with
prospective partners and establishes a
small number of relationships.
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Collaborative business planning and
goal setting among new partners and
Merschmann’s team results in realistic,
attainable goals that reflect all
stakeholders’ objectives.
Partners receive solution and sales
training from Modus Consult.
Partners obtain an English-language,
non-location-specific version of the
solution, which they localize and adapt
to the needs of customers in their
country.
During a partner’s startup phase,
Modus Consult may participate with
the partner in trade shows and
industry events and encourages
partners to consider inviting the
company to such opportunities.
Modus Consult frequently assists
partners in approaching prospects in
the target vertical.
During the first few joint projects,
partners typically are in charge of the
implementations. Modus Consult uses
these occasions to transfer industry
and technical expertise gained in
thousands of work hours to the
partners’ teams in a practical,
comprehensive manner.
After that thorough industry and
technology immersion, partners close
business and perform implementations
on their own.
Extending Capabilities and
Refining Solutions
On average, it takes a year or less to fully
enable new partners to do business on
their own with modus foodvision, modus
engineering, or modus plastics.
Exceptions to the partner-driven
business model are few and always come
about through customer requirements.
Sometimes, a customer headquartered in
Germany needs to have Microsoft
Dynamics NAV and Modus Consult
solutions implemented in foreign
subsidiaries. By using its own extensive
resources, Modus Consult is currently
performing a very large implementation
project in 24 countries, in almost half of
which no partners can represent the
company’s solutions yet.
During this intense global business
development initiative, Modus Consult
continues to refine and update its
solutions. That can mean developing the
solutions’ interoperability with additional
and changing devices and hardware or,
in the case of modus foodvision,
extending the functionality for such
subverticals as milk and dairy production
or the making and distribution of breads
and pastries.
Benefits
Modus Consult’s approach to growth—
pairing a partner channel with a strong
vertical concentration—consistently
bears strong results, such as alwaysincreasing numbers of customers and
revenue. Since 2003, Microsoft Germany
annually ranks Modus Consult within the
top five Microsoft Dynamics NAV
partners. In addition, Modus Consult is
frequently appointed to the Microsoft
President’s Club and the Microsoft
Dynamics Inner Circle. “Leveraging the
Microsoft partner ecosystem and
technology leadership and bringing
them together with our vertical solutions,
we are set to succeed for the foreseeable
future,” says Schildmacher.
Generate Fast, Focused Growth
Business results show that Modus
Consult’s strictly focused vertical strategy
to growing the business works. The first
vertical solution, modus foodvision,
helped establish a strong momentum
and high visibility that benefit the others.
Less than two years after its launch,
modus engineering, for example, is
seeing implementation in 24 projects
that have been already completed or are
currently underway. And, through its 25
vertical solutions partners, Modus
Consult technology is becoming a
recognized, trusted brand in 21
countries.
Says Schildmacher, “By pursuing
strategic relationships with qualified
partners, we have created a vertical
business model that can scale globally to
deliver the growth and revenue we want
to accomplish. And, we achieve this at a
fraction of the cost of hiring people and
opening branch offices in international
locations.”
Produce Revenue from
Channel Partners
Microsoft Certified Partners that engage
with Modus Consult benefit from a
highly structured, proven approach that
moves quickly and leaves them fully
empowered to serve their chosen
vertical. The standardized solution
components save partners resources and
expenses, for example, by implementing
device interfaces that Modus Consult has
already built, as opposed to developing
them from scratch. If a customer requires
extensive customizations of Microsoft
Dynamics NAV, the efficient, robust
development environment of the
solution lets consultants complete these
tasks promptly. That also means
implementations can happen fast so that
the partners can act on other
opportunities and customers can enjoy
the productivity benefits of their new
technology.
In developing countries with more
limited technology resources, the
advantages of the Modus Consult
business model are even more
pronounced. “We make sure our partners
can go to market profitably with our
solutions as soon as possible,” says
Merschmann. “We crystallize our industry
expertise in the verticals we focus on to
enable substantial savings and
efficiencies for our channel and
customers worldwide.”
“Directed, global growth
focused on several
verticals using a costeffective channel sales
model lets us increase
momentum in countries
that we do well in and
maintain a strong
presence in the others.”
Martin Schildmacher, Chairman,
Modus Consult
Establish Sound Credibility and
Domain Expertise
As a standard business practice, Modus
Consult product managers submit the
company’s products to testing and
validation to achieve Certified for
Microsoft Dynamics NAV confirmation
for each version of every vertical
solution. As Merschmann explains,
“Obtaining Certified for Microsoft
Dynamics NAV status proves the validity
of our solutions and gives partners the
confidence to represent and implement
them for customers.”
In Germany, where Modus Consult and
its solutions are well known, certification
proves that the company offers
technology that can help customers
successfully run their businesses. In other
countries, especially in Asia, Africa, and
North and Latin America, Modus Consult
finds that certification is essential in
winning the trust of partners and
customers.
Thrive During an Economic Downturn
With a diverse portfolio of several
valuable solutions and carefully managed
business development in multiple
geographic areas, Modus Consult
continues to thrive in a difficult
economic environment. Says
Schildmacher, “Directed, global growth
focused on several verticals using a costeffective channel sales model lets us
increase momentum in countries that we
do well in and maintain a strong
presence in the others.”
Today, many European countries suffer
from the effects of a widespread financial
crisis, and Modus Consult’s business
there is not growing as quickly as earlier.
However, the company has successful
partners and looks forward to growing
licensing revenue from the Arabian Gulf
states, whose economies have been
resilient during the global downturn. In
Algeria, Tunisia, and India, Modus
Consult also experiences strong interest
and growing adoption of its solutions
and Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
“Our geographic diversification helps us
minimize the risk in developing and
marketing innovative technology,” says
Merschmann. Modus Consult aims to
foster a partner network in the United
States and Canada as the economy picks
up and looks forward to supporting
customers in those countries.
For More Information
For 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 Modus
Consult products and services, call 001
49 52 41 92 17 10 or visit the Web site
at:
www.modusconsult.de
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft 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
You can read more about the foodvision
solution in the Microsoft Dynamics
Marketplace.
Software and Services

This case study is for informational purposes only.
MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published September 2009
Microsoft Dynamics
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