“Close to half of INFOMA’s licensing revenue from the German market comes through the hosting partners.” Oliver Couvigny, General Manager, INFOMA Software Consulting With a sharp vertical focus on supporting the financial and asset management of local and regional governments, INFOMA Software Consulting provides vertical solutions based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV. To meet ambitious growth goals and address increasingly complex customer challenges, INFOMA offers its solution as a hosted offering through hosting partners. Customers on a hosted solution receive automated software updates when they become available, so their solution is always fully current. Keeping their technology spending low, they pay a reasonable monthly fee instead of making a substantial technology investment and can rely on the reliability of the hosting partners’ infrastructures. Now, INFOMA can develop more, valuable customer relationships and serve customers with optimal efficiency and economy. Situation INFOMA Software Consulting built a successful business by focusing exclusively on supporting customers in a closely defined vertical market. The company specializes in providing software and services to help local and regional governments manage their finances, real estate, and processes to meet constituents’ needs and comply with regulatory standards for financial management in the public sector. Founded in 1988, the company has its headquarters in Ulm, Germany. INFOMA is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner qualified for two Microsoft Partner Network competencies: ISV/Software Solutions and Microsoft Dynamics NAV. INFOMA’s parent company, Imtech NV, is a large, internationally active technology provider based in the Netherlands. Ambitious Growth Targets and More Complex Customer Needs Today, approximately 900 German administrative districts and 60,000 public-sector users work with Microsoft Dynamics NAV and newsystem public. With account ownership of approximately 15 percent of the available market, INFOMA is clearly one of the leaders in its vertical. However, the company has ambitious goals to grow market share and revenue. In doing so, INFOMA competes with a number of companies, including SAP, Unit 4 Agresso, and specialized software vendors. At the same time, INFOMA customers and prospective customers aim to control costs and keep their technology spending low. However, they don’t want to compromise on technological capabilities and they want to make the best use of advanced software solutions that are designed to help the public sector manage finances and meet constituents’ needs with best results and efficiencies. Solution To address customer needs and achieve its own business goals, INFOMA decided to gain more leverage from its long-standing relationships with the data centers that support the public sector and the advanced infrastructures those partners can offer. Those partners can also offer hosted software solutions with high levels of dependability and information protection. Starting in 2001, INFOMA made Microsoft Dynamics NAV and newsystem public available as a hosted solution. Hosting partners can offer the complete, integrated solution to public-sector customers as a hosted service. Part of the hosted-solution environment is a job scheduler, which automates such functions as sending “invoice due” reminders or transferring funds. Hosting customers also receive automated software updates when they become available. Benefits With Microsoft Dynamics NAV and newsystem public as a hosted solution, public-sector customers can take advantage of all the technological capabilities they want, keep them current at all times, and keep their technology spending at a minimum. INFOMA and its hosting partners, on the other hand, can strengthen their competitive position in the public-sector market, win more referral business from satisfied customers, and generate a predictable stream of recurring revenue with outstanding efficiency and economy. Grow Through Hosting Partners The hosting partners have their own relationships with public-sector customers in their areas and, because they are local to these customers, they can take care of them in a highly personal and responsive manner. In addition, the hosting partners generate substantial revenue for themselves and INFOMA. “The channel is essential to our business model. Close to half of INFOMA’s licensing revenue from the German market comes through the hosting partners,” says Oliver Couvigny, General Manager at INFOMA. Keep Customers’ Costs of Technology Ownership Low Public-sector customers always operate with strictly limited budgets, so the availability of a powerful, hosted software solution is a real advantage. Hosting of Microsoft Dynamics NAV and newsystem public at the partnering data centers makes the complete functionality of the solution available without requiring a large purchase. Instead, customers pay reasonable subscription fees and receive support from the hoster. The data centers already have effective disaster recovery and data protection strategies in place, which means customers don’t need to acquire them. Enable Cost Savings and Efficiencies in Service Delivery The hosting scenario offers further cost-saving efficiencies to partners and customers. For example, a job scheduler helps customers automate and streamline frequent, time-consuming tasks. And, the ability to distribute software updates automatically ensures that customers receive enhancements consistently and in a timely manner, with a minimal workload for the hosting partner. As Eva Wagenpfeil, Business Development Manager at INFOMA, describes, “In one case, a data center with approximately 300 customers needed as many as seven employees to perform the manual distribution of software updates for three weeks, up to five times a year. Now, with the hosted solution, the partner broadcasts updates in half a weekend day and needs just one systems administrator to monitor the process—a substantial savings of cost and labor.”

Overview

Country or Region: Germany and Switzerland Industry: Professional services—IT services Partner Profile INFOMA Software Consulting helps public-sector customers in Germany and in other European countries manage finances, assets, and operations by offering hosted solutions based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Business Situation The company wants to grow its business and market share, generate more revenue, and help customers stay current on the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Solution INFOMA engages with Microsoft to grow a partner network to drive vertical and geographical growth, boost technological capabilities, and offer an attractive value proposition with a certified solution. Benefits Grow through hosting partners Keep customers’ costs of technology ownership low Enable cost savings and efficiencies in service delivery

For further information please send an email to Eva Wagenpfeil or call us on: +49 731 1551 631