Microsoft Corp. Press Release

REDMOND, Wash., April 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Microsoft Corp.
today announced that Profiles International Inc., which provides Web-based
employee-assessment and talent management solutions to companies across the
globe, has chosen Microsoft Dynamics CRM to replace its Pivotal CRM
software.

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Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a fully integrated customer relationship
management system that offers the capability to easily create and maintain
a clear view of customers from first contact through purchase and after
sales. The Microsoft Dynamics technology will be integrated with the
organization’s Microsoft Office SharePoint Server portal to offer
visibility and collaboration both internally and externally to partners and
clients through the Profiles Resource Center. The portal will serve
Profiles International’s Waco, Texas, campus, three regional offices, 700
partners in the U.S., and clients in 120 countries, which view its Web
sites in 30 languages.

The new Microsoft technology replaces the company’s CDC Software
Pivotal CRM, Pivotal ePartner portal, Pivotal MarketFirst electronic
marketing application and basic intranet site. Profiles International found
the Pivotal architecture difficult to customize and develop. As a result,
the company’s IT staff, which has used .NET technology extensively, decided
to move toward an expanded Microsoft foundation to increase flexibility and
ease of development. Microsoft Dynamics CRM will integrate all of Profiles
International’s delivery systems, a benefit the Pivotal CRM solution had
not achieved. Profiles International evaluated software from Oracle’s
Siebel, Salesforce.com, SAP, Sage CRM Solutions, Netsuite Inc. and CDC’s
Pivotal before selecting the Microsoft Dynamics solution.

Joe Kistner, chief operating officer at Profiles International, said
the company selected Microsoft Dynamics CRM for a number of reasons,
including the familiar Microsoft interface; its integration with Microsoft
Office, especially the Outlook client; Microsoft Dynamics’ vision for
allowing the accounting back end to match the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM
architecture; Microsoft’s reinvestment and commitment to the technology;
the balance of rapid development with a midmarket enterprise architecture
based on .NET; and the availability of .NET resources, along with Profiles
International’s own in-house Microsoft and .NET expertise.

After researching several consultants, Profiles International selected
global Microsoft Gold Certified Partner ePartners Inc. of Dallas to help
guide implementation of the new technology. The team from Profiles
International and ePartners established Microsoft Dynamics CRM sales
components to support the company’s partner recruiting; partner sales
channel management; direct and enterprise sales; and divisions for
education, government and international sales. In addition, sales and
service components from the solution will support the company’s customer
service. Built-in marketing tools will handle electronic communication, and
support staff in various departments will use the Microsoft Dynamics CRM
functionality for contact management and communication.

Profiles International’s latest Microsoft solutions will be integrated
seamlessly with its existing Microsoft architecture, which includes
Microsoft Office, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange Server,
Microsoft Internet Information Server (ISS), Microsoft Visual Studio,
SharePoint Server and custom .NET applications. The Microsoft Dynamics CRM
solution will be tightly integrated with SharePoint and Outlook to provide
employees with a familiar electronic workplace with all their information
immediately available. Similarly, Microsoft Dynamics CRM will be integrated
with the company’s intranet, its extranet for customers and partners, and
its public-facing service for delivery applications.

The availability of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, in combination with
SharePoint Server, offers a range of benefits that are expected to heighten
Profiles International’s effectiveness:

— Company growth. The company expects Microsoft Dynamics CRM to promote
growth through increased efficiencies resulting from its familiar
Microsoft environment and tight integration with other systems. More
information will be readily available for better decision-making, and
new personnel can be trained more quickly because of the consistent,
user-friendly interface throughout the sales and support tools.
— Reduced costs. Development and technical support costs will shrink
because more resources and skilled individuals are available for
development on the popular Microsoft platform than for the proprietary
software previously used. A more consistent and centralized desktop
than was available before will be rolled out to sales staff, saving
training costs. Further savings will derive from the ability to
implement technology improvements on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM and
Microsoft SharePoint platforms simply by applying releases and service
packs without needing to merge customized code with new-vendor code at
each stage.
— Support for company growth. With support from the Microsoft Dynamics
solution and ePartners, Profiles International is able to quickly and
simultaneously execute several strategic moves.
— Increased agility. Customer relationship management, the company’s
intranet, its extranet and business intelligence will benefit from
rapid development tools, while customizations are supported by Visual
Studio .NET developers.
— Revenue improvement. The company anticipates that easier tools, easier
communication and workflows, more data accessible in a centralized
location, more automation and improved integration compared with its
previous system will boost revenue through efficiencies, along with
increased employee empowerment and morale.
— Elimination of ad hoc fixes. The company’s IT staff often needed to
develop workarounds for its previous system. For example, they had to
build their own data warehouse just to move the data to the point where
staff could generate Microsoft Excel spreadsheets or print reports.
Those processes go away with Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint
Server because a business portal makes key performance indicators and
other data visible in real time.

“We selected this Microsoft technology stack so we can take advantage
of its quick-to-implement, out-of-box functionality, while retaining total
control of the database and integration layer so we can continue to react
to business climate changes and chart new courses at a very high pace,”
Kistner said.

Profiles International also expects the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM
technology to help improve the efficiency of internal processes and the
effectiveness of accountability.

“Microsoft Dynamics CRM has proved to be a crucial efficiency tool for
organizations like Profiles International that rely on the Web to reach
into local business markets,” said Michael Park, corporate vice president
for U.S. Dynamics Business at Microsoft. “Employing the easy-to-use
Microsoft interface, Microsoft Dynamics products reduce training time while
increasing operating effectiveness and centralizing data for accuracy and
visibility, all vital aspects of a successful customer-relationship-based
business.”