Elly Yates-Roberts |
Aviation supplier Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics migrated its on-premises Microsoft Dynamics AX solution to the cloud with Dynamics 365. Now the firm can engage customers in new ways, improve processes and efficiencies, and expand functionality for future needs.
With help from technology partner Sikich, the firm migrated to Dynamics 365 to ensure the reliable delivery and repair of parts, automate processes and improve disaster recovery capabilities, which enables Mid-Continent to better serve its customers.
“Customer-centricity is natural for us,” said Cindy Highbarger, senior vice president of finance and operations at Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics. “As the company evolves, we constantly seek out additional features and functionality that we need to continue growing.”
The migration has created significant benefits for the firm, for example by streamlining processes and enabling IT staff to use Teams as their single platform to collaborate and find documents. Single sign-on saves employees time from remembering multiple credentials and switching between different platforms, and the web interface facilitates remote and hybrid working.
“The Dynamics 365 web offering is perfect for working from anywhere,” said Mike Sanders, IT director at Mid-Continent. “When our sales team is travelling, they can readily pull up information, get to the data required, and make an informed decision while they're remote.”
Mid-Continent is also using Dynamics 365 Marketing to automate the follow-up process for completed repairs and communicate more effectively with customers.
During implementation, Sanders prioritised future enhancement plans. “The Dynamics 365 environment gives you the flexibility to have options that you may not be needing now,” he said. “When that future functionality is needed, you're ready.”
Mid-Continent is also improving business continuity through its use of Microsoft collaboration and productivity tools, such as Microsoft 365 and Teams. “That's one of the advantages of going with Microsoft,” said Highbarger. “Because there are so many different apps and different complementary products available, there are many opportunities to connect and integrate.”
Looking forward, the firm plans to build cloud-based interfaces with major manufacturers, potentially using artificial intelligence and Microsoft HoloLens. “HoloLens could be a potential solution for us, and because it's a Microsoft product, it ties in with Dynamics 365,” said Sanders. “So, our technicians would be hands-free, and able to pull up information about the components they're working on, as well as customer information, without dealing with a full-sized screen in their workspace.”