Why did TNS choose Partner Power?

“We wanted to partner with an organization that would guide, assist, and advice us through this process,” explains Tim Thimaya Project Director of Group Finance Systems at TNS. ”And, we wanted to work with an organization that had the expertise to work internationally in a practical, efficient, and effective manner. Through research, we found that there was only one organization that met all these criteria - that was Partner Power!” Today, TNS has gained greater control, visibility and increased profitability with Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Partner Power!

When you are in the business of delivering market information, you know how important it is to have the most up-to-date and accurate information. To achieve and maintain excellence, TNS chose Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Partner Power.

Taylor Nelson Sofres plc (TNS) is a global market information and insight group. Based on data collected from respondents via the Internet, mail, phone, and e-mail, TNS delivers value-adding marketing information and insight to clients around the globe. The company has revenues of €1.35bn, counts 15,000 fulltime employees in 80 countries and conducts over 50 million interviews annually. 
 
Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Partner Power – The best combination
In 2004, TNS’ finance systems strategy was at a crossroads. “We urgently needed a new and robust solution for our European subsidiaries,” says Tim Thimaya, Project Director of Group Finance Systems at TNS. “We wanted a business solution to enable us to manage business performance and improve profitability. We wanted to measure profitability and accountability at the lowest level. At the same time, the system had to provide a solid framework for group reporting and enable tighter internal controls. Finally, we wanted to start using our management information more effectively.”

Microsoft Dynamics NAV had been used in one of TNS’ small but profitable companies in Spain for four years. Having reviewed the functionality, and supported by the local Partner Power office in Spain, TNS management decided to roll it out across seven offices in Spain by the end of 2004 (TNS’ fifth largest business).

TNS started considering the development of a CORE solution for its other European subsidiaries, incorporating the ideas from Spain. In May 2005, a steering group was formed at TNS, led by the group’s Chief Financial Officer. The Spanish version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV was not suitable for an international roll-out, but the functionality was desirable. France (TNS’ fourth largest subsidiary) was the next country in line for an implementation. On recommendation from Microsoft, TNS turned to Partner Power France to start developing the CORE solution. Development started in June 2005.

At the same time, TNS became aware of the benefits they could get from working with one international partner on the project. They chose Partner Power because the company had been involved in the original Spanish roll-out and comprised all the qualities that TNS was looking for. “We wanted to partner with an organization that would guide, assist, and advise us through this process,” explains Tim Thimaya. “And, we wanted to work with an organization that had the expertise to work internationally in a practical, efficient, and effective manner. Through research, we found that there was only one organization that met all these criteria - that was Partner Power!”

Partner Power strongly reinforced the existing project team by involving International Project Manager, Alan Denney, and representatives from the Partner Power U.K. office to take care of international application management and ensuring that the solution would be perfectly suited to international roll-outs.

A CORE solution in just 6 months!
TNS decided to build the CORE solution based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV 3.70. One of TNS’ key requirements was to have an integrated database combining Projects with General Ledger information and allowing visibility at a detailed level on projects, analyzed by key dimensions. To complement the functionality in Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Partner Power France recommended using a vertical solution called NaviOne.

Partner Power was attentive to TNS’ specific needs and in December 2005, six months after the project had started, Partner Power France had completed the primary CORE development. In January 2006, the international deployment pack had been substantially completed. 

“One of the keys to the success of the CORE solution development was having a local Partner Power project manager who was able to combine an understanding of our business with the relevant technical skills and was able to work effectively with our internal teams. It was extremely important to understand our business objectives for this project, as the CORE was going to be rolled out globally,”says Thimaya.

Thorough preparation on the TNS side was without doubt another success criterion. “TNS had done a great deal of forward planning in France, using the substantial knowledge gained from Spain. They had prepared a blueprint for the CORE and came to us with very clear needs and requirements. This, added to the enthusiasm of the TNS people involved in the project, allowed us to deliver a CORE solution that could meet the company’s requirements,” says Alan Denney, International Project Manager at Partner Power International.

The CORE solution, which was solid from the start, evolved to become an even stronger and more stable solution. “Today, the CORE is a much stronger solution than it was after the first development,” explains Denney. “It includes extensive experience and additional know-how from all the local Partner Power offices involved in the project. Also, TNS has added SQL Reporting Services and Timesheet and Proposals Web functionality to the CORE solution.”

The time and efforts spent in the CORE definition were a good investment for TNS.

“Working with a CORE approach was definitely the right decision for us,” remembers Tim Thimaya. “It greatly reduced risks as only the localization and customizations were left to be handled in the subsidiaries.”

The key to a successful phased roll-out
TNS opted for a prioritized and phased roll-out to their other subsidiaries in scope. After France, followed medium-sized and smaller subsidiaries (Norway and Italy followed by Mexico, Denmark, and France again – for second smaller implementation – and finally Belgium).

The implementation in each country was supervised by a TNS Steering Group and was structured in phases from project kick-off to go-live and support. This was a new experience for TNS who, on the initial projects, relied heavily on PPI for leadership, guidance, and technical know-how. Continuous learning and improvement was built into the implementation process enabling Partner Power and TNS to establish a more structured implementation process over time. For TNS, the elapsed time for a project from launch to go-live is six months – reflecting the intensive knowledge transfer and time constraints of the local project manager. TNS and Partner Power have learnt from the initial experiences and are now able to accurately forecast a new project effort according to the phases.

The most successful implementations had certain common key characteristics. If building a CORE solution was undoubtedly one of the major success factors for these projects, the human factor was also essential. “The strength of the TNS local project manager was extremely important in driving the success. Where such an individual was motivated, had a thorough knowledge of the company’s business processes, and was given the authority to execute the project, we found that projects ran very effectively. When this was coupled with a local Partner Power project manager who was able to combine technical, business, and process skills, it proved to be an unbeatable combination,” Tim Thimaya recalls. “I would strongly recommend any company with the same type of international roll-out project to carefully select the local project manager and ensure that the person has the requisite skills as well as a precise and ambitious vision to leverage the project for the maximum benefit of the company.”

On time and within scope and budget!
Overall, the experience of TNS has been very positive. All implementation projects have gone live as planned (on time), have been close to budget (on budget) and have delivered the agreed scope. “In financial terms, it is important to show that projects are well controlled,” adds Thimaya. “None of our projects have exceeded their budget by more than 10% with one being under budget. This, combined with ‘on time’ and ‘within scope’, has given the TNS Steering Group great confidence in the program.”

The benefits
The benefits of implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV in multiple countries can be clearly seen at TNS in the operations of the subsidiaries. Implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV has allowed them to improve profitability in different ways:

• Greater and timely scrutiny of project level results
• Better utilization of resources (with timesheet recording)
• More time spent on analysis rather than processing
• Reliable, accurate, and complete data from a ‘single source’ integrated database
• Reduced finance headcount through efficiency and standardization

Based on the current experience, TNS has built up some benchmarks around the implementation cost and the profit improvement that is required to pay for the change. Including amortization and maintenance, TNS expects that the gross annual cost for medium to smaller subsidiaries to be about 0.25% of revenue. In all of the implementations so far, the subsidiaries have achieved improvements above this level.

The scorecard – how did we do?
Tim Thimaya explains: “To enable us to measure our success against our original objectives, we created a scorecard. With the help of PPI, we have achieved our primary goals. There were two areas which scored below target. For ‘better use of management information,’ we have invested in SQL Reporting Services and we expect to see this score improve rapidly. For ‘better utilization of resources,’ we are working with our subsidiaries to improve their disciplines around time recording and reporting, and again we expect to see this improve.”

TNS’ overall impression is definitely one of general satisfaction. Tim Thimaya comments: “It has been a journey with a dedicated purpose. We have enjoyed the experience enormously. Working with Partner Power has allowed us to build a solid CORE which has provided the foundation for this project. We have also benefited from Partner Power’s leadership and guidance. The Steering Group has great confidence in the project and is keen to implement the solution in other subsidiaries.”

Future outlook
Today, TNS is looking to upgrade the CORE to Microsoft Dynamics NAV 5.0 in 2009 and has started discussing this with Partner Power. Microsoft NAV currently covers 22% of TNS’ revenue. The company is now looking to extend the original scope of the project to include implementations in other countries as and when their finance systems come to the end of their life cycle. Many of these countries are outside Europe and the well-established
Microsoft Dynamics NAV territories (for example, Latin America), and TNS will be looking for proactive support from Partner Power and Microsoft.  

“In the future, we know that many smaller countries are interested in the CORE solution. We are working on a low cost model with a standardized implementation methodology, which will make the solution both desirable and affordable to them. But we have also started looking at opportunities in our large and medium-sized subsidiaries as and when their finance systems are due for replacement,” says Tim Thimaya.

The collaboration between TNS and Partner Power was a successful experience that will continue and develop in the future, as Tim Thimaya confirms: “Without doubt, the journey so far has been exciting. The TNS/Partner Power project team has been stable since the start of the project, and having Partner Power as a committed partner is very reassuring. As one might expect, we have had many trials and tribulations along the way, but we have resolved to deal with these quickly, learn from the experience, and move on. Looking back, Partner Power has been instrumental in helping us to realize our visions and objectives on this project.”