Partner Success Story
Emrich Business Consulting and Portal Systems close Microsoft cloud gap with Shareflex: It is the perfect addition for Microsoft’s ERP business partner (Dynamics 365 Business Central) to map the entire process chain in the M365 cloud for its customers.
Emrich Business Consulting GmbH has a wide range of customers, both in terms of the focus and size of the companies. The spectrum that EBC serves today ranges from 1 (start-ups) to 3,500 employees (corporations). Most of them are based in the Munich area, but some are also located throughout Germany and abroad. Michael Emrich, CEO of Emrich Business Consulting GmbH, explains: “We are an ERP business partner of Microsoft (Dynamics 365 Business Central). In recent years, the system has increasingly moved towards the cloud.” He adds: “It is a ready-made ERP software based on M365 that integrates seamlessly with the Microsoft CRM system.”
“This has resulted in a situation where we have a complete out-of-the-box solution for our customers in the Microsoft cloud,” says Emrich. “They no longer need any other hosting, no data centre, nothing – unless they want to archive.”
Emrich Business Consulting (EBC) GmbH, based in Unterschleißheim near Munich, is a consulting and service company in the field of business digitalisation with a focus on ERP software. Since its foundation in 2020, EBC GmbH has grown steadily and now employs 15 people, most of whom work from home across Germany. EBC helps companies in the areas of specialist retail, chain stores, hospitality and catering, and international financial management to implement digital transformation in their businesses productively with the right software. The team not only has in-depth expertise in digital technologies, but also broad industry knowledge in areas such as international accounting, logistics and retail.
This was precisely what prompted Michael Emrich to look for a robust, professional archiving system, “that is exactly in this Microsoft environment, so that we can tell our customers that they don’t have to worry about anything else if they administer this system properly, take care of their security measures and have their backups in place.”
“That’s why we conducted some online research and came across Portal Systems and Shareflex,” continues the Managing Director of EBC, emphasising: “We looked at the solution and realised that it was a good fit – in terms of structure, because I wanted a solution in the Microsoft 365 Tenant – but above all in terms of the human aspect.” It quickly became clear that they worked well together. So the path to partnership was very quickly paved.
The partnership agreement was also finalised quickly, recalls Michael Emrich. “After I requested it and read it, things moved very fast,” he explains. “We didn’t have any major coordination rounds because the agreement was just right. So I didn’t have to negotiate any major changes.” “Shortly afterwards,” recalls Michael Emrich, “we were already working with our first joint customer and immediately implemented the next two customer projects together.”
Within EBC GmbH, the decision to enter into a partnership with Portal Systems has been received positively, without exception. “At first, this had no impact on my colleagues because I was working on the projects with Portal Systems on my own,” says Michael Emrich. “But since then, the developers have given very positive feedback because they enjoy it. That’s important to me because we have to be happy with what we do.” Nevertheless, he says: “The archiving system is an add-on for us; our core competence is ERP software.”
Michael Emrich did not expect additional business from the partnership. “That was not really important to me,” he says, but adds: “It happened anyway, even though it wasn’t our goal.” Rather, the primary goal was to be able to offer their own customers a professional archiving solution in the cloud. “That was also the case with the first joint project with Portal Systems,” says Emrich. “We hadn’t even agreed on a commission beforehand. I wasn’t interested in additional business, but in offering the customer a sensible solution on SharePoint.”
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Michael Emrich really only had two important requirements for a partnership with Portal Systems: “It had to be the right fit, both technologically and personally,” he summarises. Technologically, this meant that the solution had to be well integrated with Microsoft 365. “The financial aspect isn’t that important to me,” says Emrich, adding: “I just want a professional solution for my customers.” He could easily spend two years working with just one customer. “If it’s perfectly tailored to them after that, then that’s fine with me.”
With Portal Systems, he doesn’t have the challenge of constantly having to expand the business. There are no sales quotas specified in the partner agreement. “I am first and foremost a service provider, not a salesperson,” Michael Emrich makes his position clear. It’s nice to earn something when you sell licences or win customers, he explains, “but that’s not our core focus.”
Another thing was important to Michael Emrich in the run-up to the partnership: when searching online for a suitable software provider, the EBC managing director had already looked closely at who Portal Systems was already working with – i.e. which other partners were on board and where the company itself actually came from. “Portal Systems had already been active in the field of archiving and had gained experience there,” says Emrich, “that really made the company stand out for me.” The CEO was also able to assess quite accurately the industries in which some of these partners were active. “I thought to myself: if they choose Portal Systems as a partner, then it’s also a good fit for us. That was a real criterion for me.”
The collaboration between Emrich Business Consulting and Portal Systems takes place at many different levels within the partnership: “Sometimes our marketing team exchanges ideas with Portal Systems’ marketing team,” says Michael Emrich, giving one example. “Or if we have technical issues, we can work with our contacts at Portal Systems to create best-practice solutions for specific customer problems without having to experiment too much,” he says, describing the scope of the cooperation. In addition, there are training sessions to ensure that Michael Emrich’s staff are step by step prepared for the installation of the Shareflex software. “In many areas, it is help for self-help that we request from Portal Systems and receive without any problems,” he sums up.
“When we have technical issues, we can work with our contacts at Portal Systems to create best practice solutions for specific customer problems without having to experiment too much.”
“Portal Systems has implemented many projects for our customers together with us – especially in the beginning,” says Michael Emrich. “In some cases, Portal Systems is now continuing these on its own,” he says, describing another type of cooperation in which customer support is handed over to Portal Systems. “We then step out because we no longer add any value at that point, but would still cost money in the meetings.”
All this happens through good coordination based on partnership. “We talk things through, and if it makes sense, we get on with it,” says Michael Emrich. “If the customer has a project manager and technical expertise, it makes sense for the customer to work directly with Portal Systems.” The same applies the other way round. “We can also take on subprojects for customers that Portal Systems initially sold to them.”
“For me, the most important thing is that there is collaborative coordination,” Michael Emrich emphasises once again. The partnership factor is very important to him. In addition, there is the personal exchange in many areas, which Emrich particularly appreciates. “It’s simply the employees I often deal with and with whom I have a good personal relationship.”
Are you interested in a cooperation, solution or technology partnership? Are you looking for a DMS/ECM solution that perfectly complements your portfolio as an ERP system provider (e.g. in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 BC environment)? Or do you have an idea for a new business application or industry solution based on Shareflex?
Then learn more about our partner programme and make an appointment to discuss your requirements. We look forward to your questions!
EBC GmbH has been a partner of Portal Systems since 2020. EBC GmbH has been a partner of Portal Systems since 2020. The most important achievement for Michael Emrich is “that we have an archive solution based on SharePoint.” He explains what this means: “We are all currently dealing with e-invoices. I can now display an invoice receipt with an approval workflow via Portal Systems or Microsoft, depending on how I want to display the receipt.” Either this ends up in the ERP via Squeeze or Shareflex Invoice, or it is done in the ERP until, at the end of the invoice run, a PDF and the metadata end up in Shareflex. “From invoice receipt to archiving, I have mapped the entire process chain.”
Previously, Emrich Business Consulting had to say, “Archiving is not our cup of tea” due to the broken process chain from a Microsoft Dynamics perspective. With the other partner DMS, it would have been possible to implement this on-premises, but not in the cloud. “So, with this partnership, we have ensured that we can represent the entire commercial chain again. This only changed through our collaboration with Portal Systems.” Otherwise, some customers would end up using a different archiving system. The disadvantage of this is that “we would not be managing the entire chain, which means that the customer would have several contact persons instead of just one, which of course also entails higher costs.”
Emrich Business Consulting GmbH has served three customers as a Shareflex partner to date. “However, the actual number of Shareflex projects is more difficult to quantify because there have been many of them within the customer base,” explains Michael Emrich. But there are plans for this area to grow significantly in the future. The fact that this has not yet happened is due to internal capacity constraints. “We are currently in the process of implementing the integration of Business Central and Shareflex ourselves in greater depth,” he explains. “There are a couple of customers who are waiting for this, and then we will have a lot more work to do.”
What Michael Emrich particularly appreciates about Shareflex and Portal Systems: “I believe that Shareflex is a very good system because Portal Systems utilises the additional features from Microsoft when there is an update – this means that it is an integrated system that always promises to keep pace with technological advances from Microsoft.”
This also fits in with EBC GmbH’s own philosophy regarding ERP software. “That’s why I believe we can continue to expand this as a second pillar of our business. We have already invested in this and hired new employees.” For this reason, Michael Emrich hopes that the collaboration will continue to run smoothly in the future. “So far, I have only positive things to report, and that is particularly important to me.”
Patrick Carl
Chief Sales Officer
Email: info[at]portalsystems.de
