Leading Norwegian telco company NextGenTel saves millions by switching platform to SugarCRM

A bold decision by NextGenTel’s management saved the company nearly two million NOK overnight. At the same time, gaining much better lead quality and increased customer service using fewer employees with a new platform built around SugarCRM.

NextGenTel, a leading provider of broadband and content services, was facing a big challenge. Over the years, they had come to use several different systems for sales pipeline, customer service, delivery logistics and invoicing. As a result, it was challenging to share information across the departments and get a clear and valid view of sales leads and orders in the pipeline. At the same time, the many systems also slowed down customer delivery and service:

“It was quite clear to the management that NextGenTel was in a business-critical need to get a single, integrated platform to run sales pipeline, delivery, invoicing, and customer service. It was vital to create a platform that automated the processes instead of all the different systems with a lot of manual work the company had come to add over the years”, says Lasse Andre Nordgulen, CIO at NextGenTel.

A need for out-of-the-box thinking

“We started with a more prominent, traditional provider on the market. Their timeline on integrating a new platform was a timeline of several years. In this period, NextGenTel was sold to a capital fund. So suddenly, we needed a much quicker implementation to create the changes we wanted to satisfy the new board. Our deadline from the board was drastically reduced. So, we very much needed to think out-of-the-box. I knew that a business goal so ambitious could never be reached without pushing the organisation to the limit. For that very reason, we also needed assistance from experienced experts”, Lasse Andre Nordgulen, CIO at NextGenTel, explains.

Lasse Andre Nordgulen started to search the market for other providers and alternative solutions. During the search, he was referred to EnableN, part of the successful enable.services family with HQ in the UK.

Years and millions saved overnight

“Our challenge led to recommendations and dialogue with EnableN and Kristian af Sandeberg. As a result, we found a highly-skilled partner who could turn our nearly unrealistic ambitions on deadlines and implementation into a cost-effective solution, resulting in profound benefits across the entire value chain. As a first step, NextGenTel saved two million NOK overnight in our new agreement with EnableN and managed to implement the entire platform project with a very tight timeline using only half the time compared to the previous provider’s efforts.”

360-degree Discovery Analysis

Secondly, EnableN kicked off with their 360-degree Discovery Analysis Workshop. They took a deep analysis of the vital processes in our business to see and challenge how we work and how we could work smarter and automate processes in the organisation. Based on this, they created a clear strategy and phased implementation plan for the platform SugarCRM.

“The work was successful, and I’m sure this couldn’t have been done without the Nordic Enablen team, and Nordic partner lead Kristian af Sandeberg with their extraordinary abilities to help solve obstacles on our way with a great understanding of different cultures and skills to communicate with all kinds of employees”, says Lasse Andre Nordgulen, CIO at NextGenTel.

Higher quality with fewer resources

“NextGenTel’s results from switching to SugarCRM are already profound after the first year. It has given us an immediate overview and transparency into the core of our business. Today we have clear and correct business insights due to the much-improved data quality. We have higher quality in sales pipeline, delivery logistics, invoicing and increased customer service using fewer employees with the new more automated platform. Due to automation, we also see much less mistakes in pipeline and delivery – and we manage to pick most problems up before it affects our customers. Now we let the platform do the work with better insights, sales, and happier clients as the result”, Lasse Andre Nordgulen concludes.

About NextGenTel

NextGenTel offers broadband services via fibre and Fixed Wireless Access, including internet, VoIP, and IPTV, to consumers and businesses via the affiliated company Bitpro AS. The company has a nationwide IP-based broadband network and is one of the largest suppliers of broadband services in Norway. The headquarter is in Bergen, Norway.