Microsoft DynamicsTM
Customer Solution Case Study
Managing Cities and Counties from the
Infrastructure Up
Overview
Country/Region: United States of America
Industry: Information Technology
Customer Profile
Headquartered in Sacramento, California,
Hansen provides a one stop solution for
managing the operations of state, local, and
federal government. Hansen provides
solutions to 15 of the 25 largest city and
county governments in the United States. It
has offices in Australia, New Zealand, the
United Kingdom and Canada.
Business Situation
Hansen wanted to add a financial solution to
its operational application. It wanted a
solution that would meet the needs of multifaceted government organization RFPs.
Solution
Hansen chose to integrate Microsoft®
Business Solutions–Great Plains® into the
Hansen suite, an operational application. This
solution utilizes Microsoft .NET technologies.
Hansen also chose to sell this application
through Microsoft partners who are
connected with city and county government
customers.
Benefits
 Provides end to end integration
 Makes Use of the partner channel
 Increases Hansen’s competitiveness
“If you are going to hitch your company to .NET, there
is no better company to integrate with than
Microsoft.”
Robert Strouse, Chief Technical Officer, Hansen
Hansen Information Technologies (Hansen®) delivers a one-stop
solution for managing the operations of state, local, and federal
government from the infrastructure up. The Hansen product suite is
designed specifically to manage the complex transactions of
government organizations including asset management, building
permits, code enforcement, public works, tax administration,
financials, and other issues facing government organizations.
Capitalizing on its own strengths and those of Microsoft® Business
Solutions, Hansen integrates Microsoft Business Solutions–Great
Plains® (now part of Microsoft DynamicsTM) into the operational
application. The solution utilizes Microsoft .NET technology.
Hansen opts to sell the Hansen suite through a partner channel,
and has been actively involved in sponsoring several conferences
and events as a way to reach existing partners working with city and
county governments. Hansen expects to triple its growth with these
strategic alliances.
“Hansen fully expects to
triple its growth over the
next three years based
on our strategic
alliances with Microsoft,
Microsoft Business
Solutions, and Microsoft
Great Plains.”
Gary Berry, Microsoft Channel Manager,
Hansen Information Technologies
Situation
For over 20 years, Hansen’s focus has been
to provide operational applications for state,
local, and federal governments. Hansen
started as a primarily public works related
application and grew to provide operational
applications to the entire state and local
government market.
Hansen solutions are modeled after best
practices in government and Hansen is well
known for providing integrated solutions for
state and local government “from the
infrastructure up.” Hansen provides solutions
to 15 of the 25 largest city and county
governments in the United States.
As of the first quarter 2004, Hansen served
over 339 sites with almost 130,000 licensed
seats of product. These agencies have
processed over 1.6 million utility billing
accounts, $4.3 billion in revenue, $3.9 billion
in costs, 2.7 million building permits, and 24
million assets. “We know government,” says
Robert Strouse, CTO.
At the time, the Hansen suite included Asset
Management, Budgeting, Building Permit,
Business Licenses, Citizen Relationship
Management, Code Enforcement, GIS,
Property Management, Work Management,
and Utility Billing.
While Hansen had several industry specific
solutions, it wanted to add a financial
component to its software and provide a
more integrated solution. “Cities need to be
managed from their infrastructure up rather
than from their financials down,” says Bryan
Klann, Vice President of Strategic Alliances
and Channels.
With 260 employees, Hansen was using
Microsoft® Business Solutions–Great
Plains® software in-house and knew that
Microsoft Business Solutions was a player in
the mid-range government market.
Hansen also recognized that government
entities were moving toward IT solutions with
broader capabilities. While government
agencies had previously been trying to meet
each operational need with a single IT
solution, it was moving more toward
purchasing integrated solutions to solve
multi-faceted challenges. Hansen wanted to
respond to this need, as well as to strengthen
the financial component of its software.
Solution
Recognizing that its core competencies were
in operational applications, Hansen made the
strategic decision to join forces with Microsoft
Business Solutions and to integrate Microsoft
Business Solutions–Great Plains into the
Hansen suite. Hansen has developed an
exceptional relationship with the Microsoft
Business Solutions government team. “We’ve
been a Microsoft development partner for a
long time,” says Kent Johnson, COO. “This
partnership has now attained new levels of
involvement and engagement. We believe
this is a critical factor for our growth and
success.” Klann agrees. “It has completely
opened new avenues for us.”
Beginning in the fall of 2003, Hansen made
several strategic decisions:
Hansen chose to focus on its own core
competencies in operational applications
and opted to integrate Microsoft Great
Plains as the financial application into the
Hansen suite. This saved them the time
and expense required if it had developed
its own financial application.
 Hansen opted to develop its solution based
on Microsoft .NET connection software.
This enables Hansen to provide the
industry’s first completely Web servicesbased solution with zero legacy code and
zero client-side software.
 Hansen chose to utilize a partner channel
to sell the Hansen suite. It recognized that
many of the existing Microsoft VARs (Value
Added Resellers) were in a position to
market the Hansen suite to state and local

Benefits
End-to-End Integration
Hansen has over 20 years of expertise in
operational applications; the addition of
financials to its solution provides customers
with the end-to-end integration required by
government organizations today. The close
relationship Hansen has with Microsoft
Business Solutions enables Hansen to work
closely to further software development on
issues facing the government industry.
Capitalizing on Strengths Saves Time
and Money
Making the decision to integrate Microsoft
Great Plains into the Hansen suite has saved
Hansen both time and money. Rather than
spend time in a lengthy development
process, Hansen chose to utilize the existing
strength of Microsoft Great Plains financials
to strengthen the Hansen offering in turn:
Hansen provides solutions for
cities and counties “from the
infrastructure up.”
governments. It had made significant
investment by increasing staffing for VAR
relations by 400 percent and by increasing
staffing for VAR customer contacts by 150
percent. It has also agreed to sponsor or
co-sponsor several conferences and events
reaching Microsoft VARs who serve state
and local government customers.
While other software companies were
attempting to move from financials into
operational applications, Hansen did the
reverse. It utilized its new position to add
financials to its already strong operational
expertise.
Hansen currently has offices in the United
Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada,
and the United States. Its end-to-end model
of business applications, government best
practices, and leading performance
indicators offers state, local, and federal
governments a single solution from a single
vendor for all their IT needs.
Makes Use of the Partner Channel
Close relationships with Microsoft Business
Solutions have enabled Hansen to tap into
the existing channel of partners to help sell
its solution. It has been able to recruit VARs
to sell the Hansen suite in specific
geographical regions. Sponsorship and cosponsorship of several conferences and
events has provided numerous opportunities
for Hansen to connect with Microsoft partners
who are servicing customers in the state,
local, and federal government sectors.
Increase Competitiveness
By focusing on operational applications (its
core competency) and adding Microsoft Great
Plains, Hansen has increased the
competitiveness of the Hansen suite.
“Hansen fully expects to triple its growth
based on our strategic alliances with
Microsoft and Microsoft Business Solutions
over the next three years,” says Gary Berry,
Microsoft Channel Manager.
For More Information
Microsoft Dynamics
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products and services, call the Microsoft
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Microsoft subsidiary. To access information
using the World Wide Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com
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 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 Hansen
Information Technologies products and
services, visit the Web site at:
www.hansen.com
For more information about Microsoft
Dynamics, go to:
www.microsoft.com/dynamics
Software and Services

© 2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case
study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO
WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Microsoft and Great Plains are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation or Great Plains Software,
Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Great Plains
Software, Inc. is s subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation.
Document published June, 2004
Microsoft Dynamics
− Microsoft Business Solutions–Great
Plains