Microsoft Dynamics SL Case Study - BP Air Conditioning

Situation:

BP Air Conditioning, a mechanical/service contractor headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, constructs and services heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems for companies in Manhattan and surrounding areas. With only 115 employees, the company books approximately 33 construction jobs and services approximately 100 customers each month. Additionally, BP Air Conditioning manages more than 485 service contracts and maintains some 4,000 pieces of equipment annually. Last year, the construction side of the business earned U.S.$53.7 million in revenue, and the service department brought in $7.6 million.

Solution:

In the spring of 2000, BP Air Conditioning began evaluating solutions from Microsoft. Executives sought a highly integrated business management offering that could support future growth. Their requirements included real-time data access, customizable reporting, and flexible data output to accommodate multiple reporting packages.

BP Air Conditioning chose to build its new system on Microsoft Business Solutions–Solomon business software (now part of Microsoft Dynamics™), the Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 Standard Edition operating system, and Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 Standard Edition for database storage. Microsoft Solomon could tie all of our different requirements and processes together into one system,” says Steve Heiderstadt, Vice President of Construction, BP Air Conditioning.

Benefits:

By deploying Microsoft Solomon, the custom modules, Windows Server 2003, and SQL Server 2000, BP Air Conditioning has gained a project and financial management system that increases the visibility of project and financial data throughout the organization. Overall, employees are realizing benefits in financial management, data analysis, project management, internal communications, customer service, and productivity.

Before the deployment of Microsoft Solomon, employees spent considerable time looking for information, whether searching the database, perusing stacks of invoices, or calling other departments. Now, by simply clicking a button, people access the data they need. “I think one of the biggest benefits for us has been the access to live data,” says Caruso. “Being able to see data when we need it, and know we can trust it, has really changed how we do our jobs.”

Heiderstadt explains, “For instance, if a customer calls me and says I want to close this job, I used to hang up the phone, pull folders, look at spreadsheets, and call the person back after some time had passed. Now in a matter of minutes, I can open a report and tell the customer how current he or she is on each project and what pending and open change orders there are. Microsoft Solomon has sped up the time it takes to access data by at least 100 percent.”

By configuring workstations to access Microsoft Solomon through Terminal Services, system performance has increased an average of 50 percent. Processor size and variable software stacks no longer affect users’ system performance when logged on through Terminal Services. Employees can also access the system from either Brooklyn or Queens, helping to minimize IT issues associated with moving to the new location.

Using Terminal Services has reduced system service issues by 80 percent. “Now that we are all running Terminal Services, we’re not seeing individual system breakdowns,” explains Fanneron. “When we have system trouble today, it’s because someone is working outside of Terminal Services.”

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