How 4 AppExchange Partners Are Turning a CRM Upgrade into a Digital Transformation

In 2017, Coliban Water, a large regional utility company from Australia, had a CRM and billing system that was approaching end-of-life and needed replacing. This presented an opportunity to reimagine their systems from the ground up and undertake a true digital transformation. When searching for a new CRM and billing solution, Coliban tapped into the synergies of four collaborative Salesforce Partners.

Keep reading to learn how Capgemini, Aptumo, Copado, and OwnBackup teamed up to transform Coliban’s business, saving them time and money across the board.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Coliban sought out a world-class CRM platform that could serve as the foundation for their significant transformation. Salesforce and its ecosystem of System Integrator (SI) and Independent Software Vendor (ISV) partners were able to deliver on Coliban Water’s request not only because the skills and technologies were proven, but also because partner relationships were in place to streamline the process.

The cohort of partners for the Coliban Water project included:

• Capgemini — A global SI with extensive experience in the utility sector and the largest number of certified Salesforce consultants in Australia. They brought together a seasoned team of Salesforce SI and ISVs to help build the necessary solution to transform Coliban Water’s systems.
• Aptumo — A Salesforce-native, cloud-based water billing solution developed by Echo Managed Services. Capgemini was already very familiar with Aptumo and brought them on to serve as the hub of the new solution.
• Copado — An end-to-end native DevOps solution that unites admins, architects, and developers on a single platform, Copado ensured that the implementation and ongoing Salesforce deployments ran smoothly with little downtime. Copado had previously collaborated with Capgemini so they were up to speed and added value to the rollout in no time.
• OwnBackup — A SaaS data protection platform that provided Coliban with the ability to restore data to previous versions. Due to OwnBackup’s prior collaboration with both Capgemini and Copado, their relationship enabled them to drive efficiencies immediately.

“Copado has been strategic in collaborating with partners who are the best of breed and who offer the highest value to clients. This is why we have invested significantly in our relationships with Salesforce, Capgemini, and Ownbackup.”- Alex Stoney, Managing Director Australia and New Zealand

Efficiency Powered by (Partner) Relationships

Coliban is already seeing significant benefits due to its digital transformation, and both Coliban and Salesforce partners benefited tremendously from the effective collaboration. While Coliban Water gained insight into a collective set of global best practices, the partners involved strengthened their own relationships, further driving new business as a result.

As Josh Pell, the Program Manager, Customer and Digital Systems for Coliban Water said; “We started out wanting to change our CRM and Billing engine. Through this journey, we’ve been able to change so much more (and quickly) to the benefit of our staff and customers.”

Success Is in The Numbers

Implementing a new CRM is no easy feat, but with the power and synergy of four AppExchange partners working towards the same goal, those ISVs managed to both achieve the task at hand and drive efficiencies that will impact Coliban’s bottom line.

New functionality is released up to 4 times faster than before. By leveraging Copado and Ownbackup, Coliban Water reduces deployment failure through quality assurance checks and rapid restore capability.

Increased flexibility in billing and managing customers. Through Aptumo and Salesforce, Coliban Water has increased flexibility in billing and managing customers. Coliban Water decides how, when, and through which channel they interact with their customers, delivering an improved customer experience.

AU$40K annual savings. Through process automation and improved user experience across the platform, Coliban Water saves approximately 15 days per month in staff time. In addition, they’ve been able to reduce platform costs by $40k per year.

“In ANZ, OwnBackup, Copado, and Capgemini have availed ourselves of this opportunity to bring the collective strength of all three organizations together when engaging with our prospects and customers.” - Brett Waters, VP Sales Australia and New Zealand, OwnBackup

If you’re an AppExchange partner interested in joining efforts with others in the ecosystem, you can get started by engaging in the Partner Community collaboration groups.