London-Based COLT Telecom Group's New Business Division Standardized Entire Operation on NetSuite Saving Time and Money
SAN MATEO, CA—NOVEMBER 4, 2004—NetSuite, Inc., today announced another large enterprise customer win in the UK. London-based COLT Telecom Group chose NetSuite for an integrated business solution that could be extensively customized without holding up the launch of a brand new division. COLT's new Managed Services Unit chose NetSuite for the combination of CRM and ERP features, integration and customization that not only let it manage the new business, but also get to market fast. And the entire implementation only took three months. For more information about the COLT story, please go to http://www.netsuite.com/portal/customers/cs_colt.shtml.
With 4,000 employees and offices in 13 countries, COLT Telecom had big plans and a small problem. The London-based telecommunications giant—revenues in 2004 are expected to exceed $2 billion (U.S.)—sought to launch a new division that would serve as a virtual IT department for small and medium-size enterprises. The market opportunity was clear: Companies looking to use technology without hiring vast in-house IT staffs could outsource the management of their LANs, WANs, and other IT needs. But the dilemma was clear, too.
COLT's existing systems were perfectly fine for COLT's established businesses, which focused more on selling standard telecom products like voice and network services. But the new business had very different needs—and in an ever-competitive market, COLT needed to meet them fast. The key was launching the new business quickly and COLT IT couldn't develop their systems fast enough.
After considering several solutions, COLT chose NetSuite based on the following key factors: NetSuite delivers an end-to-end solution that spans from prospecting to customer support to billing; simplified reporting tasks—an important consideration for a public company like COLT to track sales, revenues and profit and loss.
"NetSuite has enabled us to launch our business in a timeframe we wouldn't have been able to meet without it," says Daryl Szebesta, senior director for COLT's Managed Services Unit. "We were able to configure NetSuite to our needs within three months. That's entirely unheard of in our field. This was a new area for us, a departure from our traditional business. It would require special support, and the ability to track customer assets and large amounts of data. Our current systems were not designed for this type of business."
"The fact that a company as well known in Europe as COLT Telecom would standardize its new business unit on NetSuite is a telling sign," said Dean Mansfield, VP of EMEA for NetSuite. "It is a clear indication that legacy client/server software is not working for businesses that want to operate at low cost while focusing on their core competencies. NetSuite provides one solution that can take away the pains associated with traditional software systems."
NetSuite enables companies to manage all key business operations in a single, integrated system, which includes customer relationship management; order management and fulfilment; inventory management; finance; ecommerce and Web site management; and employee productivity. NetSuite is delivered as an on-demand service, so there is no hardware to procure, no large, up-front license fee, and no complex set-ups. Finally, NetSuite's patent-pending "real-time dashboard" technology provides an easy-to-use user interface with role-specific portal views of the application.
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