As an alliance partner, GMI has access to the world’s largest organization of Dynamics partners and specialists in multi-national, multi-site Dynamics 365 implementations. And, whether we need someone on the ground locally to help deploy a project, or we have a small localization question, the alliance can add great value to us and our customers.

When we use Pipol partners in other countries, those partners are present, on-site, they speak the language and know the local requirements. And, customers can benefit from that; they have a partner in their country.

“For instance, we had a very small project, only a few days’ work. There were two users in Belgium and a subsidiary in the USA. So we called Pipol to say we needed a partner in the USA and they connected us with Laurel Loehlin (President of BMI), who I knew from the annual Pipol World Conferences. BMI deployed the project – the customer was happy, we were happy, and BMI was happy – everyone was happy!”

“And, even if we have a small question for instance about German localization. I can connect with Pipol and they will answer me directly, or they’ll connect me with a German partner who can help“, Willem concludes.

Via Pipol, GMI group can also source specialists and other resources from around the globe during peak periods of operations. As well as share resources when demands are low.

Back in December 2014, Willem met with Roland Europe Group in what would result in one of our most successful international roll-outs of Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The project was urgent, and deadlines were tight, so after this first meeting, GMI group and Pipol worked together to create a two-phase plan. The first phase was to rapidly implement Dynamics for the new Roland EU HQ in the UK and in the second phase, build a core solution and deploy a localized version in Belgium and across other European countries.

We couldn’t give an exact estimation for phase 1 because we didn’t know what was needed so we created an estimation based on effort. We told them the team would work full-time for 3 months and we would make it happen. Roland approved of the plan and we started working and went live on time.

The second phase of the Roland Group project required deploying the solution to other countries. And when we asked Willem about the current status of the Roland Europe project, he said:

I’m not sure! And, the reason I don’t know is yet another benefit of working with Pipol. We do the local Belgium deployment and make the core solution. But, once that’s ready, it moves over to Pipol, who then finds a partner in Germany or whatever country it needs to be deployed in. We just do the knowledge transfer to those partners, or Pipol does it, and we’re out of the project.

Being part of the Pipol alliance also offers benefits when it comes to cross-selling and upselling products to international customers. Partners in the alliance have access to a steady stream of international leads and projects going from one partner to another.

Roland Group also comes to us for cross-selling opportunities. For example, they needed a SharePoint project, and they also wanted scanning capabilities in their centralized warehouse. For all these cross-selling opportunities we do the account management together with Pipol.

Pipol provides the structure, legal and contractual support, project management, and resources our partners need. All easily accessed from the Pipol Partner Portal. It includes valuable resources such as a readiness assessment, pricing calculator, campaign tools, ready-to-use guides, and templates for engaging with international customers. So, you can always rely on Pipol to work with you and support you through every stage of the international project.

Pipol understands the importance of building strong relationships. And, by promoting dialogue, challenging assumptions, and providing constructive feedback and encouragement, we build strong teams based on mutual trust.

“One of the powers of Pipol is the superb Pipol team. It’s all very agile and flexible and this is how we tend to work. It’s not that formalized so we can act quickly and react quickly. And, when you allow all the partners to benefit then you benefit yourself because you give your customers the advantage of being part of the alliance.”

One important thing is that you have trust in the alliance and in the other partners. This is needed to provide the necessary services to all the partners. Perhaps the keyword for the alliance is trust, and we are very happy to be part of it.