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American Bible Society, a 187-year-old non-profit organization, will reduce their total cost of ownership by $500,000 annually by moving onto Microsoft's SQL Server 2000 integrated with Microsoft Office and Microsoft Dynamics GP from their cumbersome and costly IBM/AS400 and JD Edwards System. SQL server's open database and the tight integration between the Microsoft products allows ABS to easily create reports and access information enhancing the staff's ability to do their work and gain more leverage from their technology investments.
About American Bible Society
The American Bible Society (ABS) is at work around the world connecting people with the inspired Word of God.
Since its founding in 1816, ABS has translated God's Word into the everyday languages of the people, using the newest technologies and communication formats that bring the Scriptures to life in the hearts of readers and listeners.
Beyond translation, ABS also creates and implements programs that encourage people to engage with God's Word as a life-sustaining resource. As an inter-confessional ministry, it joins with all Christian churches, other Bible ministries, organizations and individuals to reach out to those most vulnerable and at risk in our society. Through the fellowship of the United Bible Societies, American Bible Society extends its mission to every corner of the globe.
As a donor-supported ministry, it relies on prayers and financial contributions from individuals, churches, and ministry partners.
Business Needs
American Bible Society struggled in gaining efficiencies from their complex JD Edwards system running on the AS400 platform. The staff had difficulty getting access to meaningful information and data that resulted in lag time for monthly reports that slowed the decision making process and restricted the ability to properly measure performance. Only a highly experienced few could create reports and inquiries. In addition, support for both JDE and the AS400 was hard to come by and expensive to employ. It was also difficult for ABS to join data across donor and financial systems to create meaningful reports and analysis. System upgrades drove up the cost of ownership and made it difficult to get needed information quickly. ABS found their JDE system supported only the company's business transactions and not necessarily their business intelligence information or strategic needs.
American Bible Society's strategies included replacement of their current JD Edwards system with applications that provided easier access to information while empowering users. Standardization on a single database would enable them to interact with and present their data in a way which would keep pace with a changing and dynamic ministry environment. Now ABS has a single interaction point for customer information which can be harvested and shared with other applications, including e-Commerce facilitated by Microsoft Commerce Server, Microsoft Content Management System, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. By flattening their environment the American Bible Society has made their infrastructure easier to secure, reducing the number of moving parts and security accounts in their environment.
Business Answers
ABS turned to Gold Certified Microsoft Partner, Cipher Dynamics in New York City, who implemented their Microsoft System including Microsoft Office, SQL Server 2000 and Microsoft Dynamics GP Business Solution to simplify maintenance, add scalability, and create an open database. ABS already had Microsoft Office on their desktop which supported a tight integration to Microsoft Great Plains and offered a substantial cost savings, enhancing reporting and ease of use.
Benefits
ABS was able to realize the substantial benefits of the Microsoft SQL server 2000 and Microsoft Great Plains Business Solution including:
Significant cost savings
ABS was able to cut their licensing fees in half and an estimated $190,000 from annual hardware and software lease costs. The organization stands to save about $500,000 annually in support, maintenance costs and re-deployment of staff to perform other functions.
Ease of use
The staff was comfortable and familiar with Microsoft Office. Since Microsoft Dynamics GP is so tightly integrated with existing Microsoft products the learning curve was estimated to be substantially less with Microsoft than with JD Edwards. When ABS moved to the JDE system It took almost a year and a half to stabilize the new system while it took only a couple of months to be fully functional on the new Microsoft Dynamics GP system. In addition, ABS was able to cut their physical inventory reconciliation time by 80%.
Reporting
Utilizing Microsoft Dynamics GP, ABS is able to create Microsoft SQL data repositories that can be easily used with Microsoft Excel, Word or Access.
Integration
Because the system is Microsoft SQL based, it has all the hooks to enable tight integration with Microsoft Commerce Server, which powers Bibles.com. Since the new system is easily managed by existing resources familiar with the Intel-based architecture and Microsoft Server Technologies, the staff required to support the old system can now be re-deployed to other areas of the company where they can be more productive.
Technology
Microsoft's SQL Server's open database allows ABS to leverage existing Microsoft technology such as drill downs, roll ups and combination of data from other systems, accomplishing all of it with basic and generic skill sets and dramatically reducing the staff requirement to produce reports.
SQL Server open database
The JD Edwards system was by in large proprietary. As a result, the availability of third party solutions and service providers was limited. Furthermore, the solutions that did exist in the market place were priced very high. Conversely, Microsoft encourages third party solution providers to develop on their standard platform. Thus, a tremendous variety of providers exist to supplement Microsoft applications. This provides ABS many more possibilities for growth, increased productivity and return from existing technology investments.
By implementing Microsoft Great Plains and SQL Server 2000, ABS has reduced their total cost of ownership, lowered future risk, provided better access to data and information and enhanced the staff's ability to maximize their productivity.
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