Microsoft aims to create consistency of experience across devices through its software and platforms. With Dynamics AX, Microsoft is developing a unified experience for end users with apps for expenses, timesheets, approvals and point of sale that will work across Windows, iOS and Android devices. Microsoft is also innovating Dynamics AX solutions for retail with a new cloud-enabled Retail Server and integrating third party services. While improving its flagship ERP software, Dynamics AX can also act as a hub to connect other applications and keep business processes coordinated without additional middleware. These developments aim to keep IT able to deliver the functionality users expect from consumer devices.

1. Visions are given that name for many reasons;
they’re a goal, a direction for organisations to
head towards; a means of bringing together
people to support a common cause or
purpose. In the technology world, visionaries
are everywhere – they’re the people and
organisations constantly driving change,
challenging the status quo and trying – often
desperately – to evolve or disrupt what’s
happened in the past in order to arrive at a
better future.
Microsoft has long espoused a vision of unity
– where a single provider, Microsoft, provides a
single platform and set of solutions that utilises
that platform. And one could say Microsoft
has largely achieved that vision by creating a
common platform and user experience that
helps to drive consistency across its operating
systems and, by extension, its applications.
Proven by the success of its Windows and Office
franchises, this is a philosophy that has driven
Microsoft for decades, and its more recent
developments are the latest iteration of this
united approach.
With the modern user interface of Windows 8
and Windows Phone 8, Microsoft is creating a
consistency of experience for end users, utilising
a common method of accessing and using
applications – one which is a dramatic change
from the more familiar Windows user interface,
but one which can now scale to both small,
large and very large displays.
This isn’t anything new: Microsoft has delivered
on its “Microsoft stack” for many years,
providing a consistent back-end (Windows
Server and SQL Server) and programming
framework (Microsoft .NET) to provide consistent
development and management experiences.
This unity of experience is continuing with the
evolution of the social enterprise. On its own,
Yammer facilitates more open and transparent
communication across (and, potentially,
between) organisations; more broadly, Yammer
delivers an integrated communications layer
that will, in the not-too-distant future, create
linkages across many of Microsoft’s solutions,
particularly in the enterprise where
collaboration needs to be immediate and
contextual. Over time, the Yammer client –
which is available on multiple platforms – will
become increasingly important, and a way of
unifying messages and updates that flow from
a range of systems.
Such consistency and immediacy create a sense
of unity across an organisation – a unity created
by the social interactions between people,
and the interactions they have with their
connected applications.
Consistent with the so-called “appification
of everything,” the drive for consistent
user experiences will manifest itself in the
applications we use to perform our roles.
Common workloads in an organisation will be
accessible through specialised apps: put simply,
workloads such as filing expense claims or
completing timesheets will be performed using
targeted applications, improving productivity
and user satisfaction.
Over the next few years look for this
simplification to increase, with the underlying
technical complexity of processing certain
functions being completely hidden from
mainstream users, who will be empowered
by streamlined solutions that are exposed
through tailored applications that mirror
how the organisation – and the individuals
within it – works. As has been demonstrated
in the consumer space, such consistent user
experiences – all for one and one for all –
will change how, where and when we work,
for the better.
Don’t confuse homogeneity with “being boring;”
rather, think of it as a way of breaking down
barriers and creating long-desired consistency
that makes communications and information
sharing quicker, simpler and more effective.
All for one and one for all
Consistent experiences help to unify people, systems and organisations.
IN THIS ISSUE...
INTERGENITES AT WORK AND PLAY 2
INTRODUCTION 3
KEY THEMES FROM CONVERGENCE 4
INTRODUCING X4 CONSULTING 6
THE MICROSOFT BI ACADEMY 7
ERP IN THE CLOUD 8
CASE STUDY: AUSTRALIAN RUGBY UNION 9
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE ROADMAP 10
CASE STUDY: SENSES FOUNDATION 12

2. 2
© Copyright 2013 Intergen Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the permission of Intergen Limited.
Intergen Sydney moves
to bigger – and yellower
– premises. Clients, staff
and New Zealand Trade and
Enterprise representatives
celebrate Intergen Sydney’s
new CBD office.
Global MVP of the Year.
Wellington Intergenite James
Newton-King is honoured
by Microsoft for his services
to technology with his open
source creation, Json.NET.
Pictured with Microsoft’s
Scott Hunter (left) and Scott
Hanselman (right).
Team building for young
and old(er). From this year’s
Grad Bootcamp for our 2013
graduate intake to Intergen’s
sales conference, we’ve had
our most enthusiastic and
intrepid Intergenites tackling
confidence courses.
The Intergen Raptors lead
the field in the Wellington
Dragon Boat Festival. After
a season of dedication and
hard slog, bringing a splash
of yellow to the Wellington
Harbour, the Intergen Raptors
made it to the grand finals,
crossing the line in fifth place.
The Intergen brand makes
it to the end of the earth.
Being a truly multinational
company, we’re used to
spreading yellow around
the globe. But having our
merchandise photographed at
the South Pole was a first!

3. SMARTS THE INTELLIGENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE ISSUE 31 3
Welcome to the first edition of Smarts for
2013. A lot has happened on Intergen turf on
both sides of the Tasman since the last issue of
Smarts late last year.
Our Australian operation has more than doubled
in size in the last nine months and we’re on track
to double in size again over the coming year. This
growth is a direct result of the work we have been
doing with some truly market-leading Australian
companies. We feel immensely privileged to have
formed such strong partnerships and we’re really
excited about the solutions we are delivering to
help these household names continue to stand
out in their field. Speaking of standing out in
the field, in this issue we talk to Todd Day, Chief
Financial Officer of the Australian Rugby Union,
about the ARU’s recent Microsoft Dynamics
AX 2012 implementation and Darren Munday
of Senses Foundation about how Microsoft
Dynamics NAV provides greater insight and
enables better decision making as a result.
Both are great examples of technology that
brings people and processes together for more
connected business.
We’re proud to be sponsoring the ANZ
Championship umpires for the second year in
a three-year deal, and if you’re a netball fan no
doubt you will notice the Intergen brand, on and
off court. We see a lot of synergies between the
game of netball and the technology industry –
with both being fast-paced, adrenalin charged
and fun to watch. We also see some close
matches between the netballers and our own
company values – qualities like professionalism,
integrity and the drive to be the very best at
what we do. As a company with strong growth
on both sides of the Tasman, sponsoring the ANZ
Championship umpires makes perfect sense to us
given the sport’s great exposure in both countries.
Championing technologies
that bring people – and
processes – together
INTERGEN
In brief
»» Intergen sponsors ANZ
Championship umpires
Intergen is proud to continue
its sponsorship of the ANZ
Championship umpires in this
year’s highly contested event,
for the second year in a three-
year partnership.
»» Introducing X4 Consulting
Announcing the launch of a
new management consultancy,
X4 Consulting, Intergen’s
management consulting arm.
See page 4 for interview with
X4 Consulting CEO, Mick Bell
and X4 Principal Consultant,
Boris Guskee.
»» Australian expansion
Major growth across Intergen’s
Australian operation has
necessitated a move to new
real estate in both Intergen’s
Perth and Sydney offices, and
the opening of an office in
Melbourne. Having doubled in
size over the past nine months,
Intergen Australia is set to
double in size again over the
coming year, with the new
premises now equipped to
accommodate this growth.
Tony Stewart is Chief Executive Officer
of Intergen. Contact Tony at:
tony.stewart@intergen.co.nz
We were also very excited to be a part of the
recent launch of management consultancy
firm, X4 Consulting, which – although an
independent entity – will act as Intergen’s
consulting arm. Having a business consulting
capability that complements the services
Intergen provides has been on our roadmap
for some time. Our desire was to have the
capability to deliver large-scale strategic
projects for our clients which typically including
capability such as change management,
and business and IT strategy. Having these
capabilities allows us to deliver projects that
are focused on outcomes, and gives us the skills
to successfully deliver these projects, bringing
greater value to our clients. See page 6 for
an interview with X4’s CEO, Mick Bell, and
Principal Consultant, Boris Guskee.
We hope you enjoy reading the articles that
follow, and, as always, we welcome any
feedback and opportunities to talk about
anything covered here in greater detail. We’ll be
back later in the year with our next instalment
of technology and business insights. Until
then, we hope your technology aspirations
for 2013 are coming to fruition, and that your
technology is helping you to connect your
people and processes.

4. 4
The world ahead for Microsoft
Dynamics AX: key themes from
Microsoft’s Convergence
Microsoft’s key message at Convergence
was clear: Microsoft software, especially
Dynamics, has to be the unifying fabric
between business users, consumers and
IT. It painted a picture of a connected
world atop the Microsoft stack that
connects consumers, users and
businesses. But how is Dynamics AX
evolving to enable this reality?
Immersive, connected, native
device experiences
Dynamics AX has expense management. I talk
about this all the time, and there is always the
inevitable discussion that ensues when I’m in
the presence of a member of the new mobile
elite. I can see the question emerging from that
Lumia, iPhone or Galaxy on the table: “So I use
Expensify at the moment. I assume you have an
app like it for this solution?”
These are the guys and gals for whom a
smartphone has almost become an extension of
their conscience. There’s an app for everything,
and they have it. For the last couple of years,
as mobile has become ever-present, enterprise
software folk have rarely had great answers
for the mobile elite. So it was not surprising to
see the excitement with which Kees Hertogh,
Director of Product Marketing, showed off a
range of new AX apps coming this year to your
favourite device.
What do we know so far?
There will be at least four applications delivered
in the next year: Expense, Timesheets, Approvals
and Point of Sale. iOS and Android users might
not be running Microsoft’s platform of choice,
but you won’t miss out. The team at Microsoft
will be publishing a range of native apps for
tablet and mobile devices running on Windows
8, Windows Mobile, iOS and Android.
The Azure platform, along with a new cloud-
enabled Retail Server, will be leveraged to
provide scalable, easily deployable, connected
experiences for applications interacting with the
AX platform.
We saw a keen and evident focus on user
experience throughout the demonstrations
at Convergence that will directly correlate to
improved engagement and productivity. The
approvals example shows off a few of these UX
highlights like a single location for context-
sensitive, decision-enabling data relevant to
the approval scenario to avoid drilling through
multiple forms or running reports and rich
visual insight into the impact my decisions
will have on both cost and time budgets.
Delivering immersive device experiences for
those “in between time” tasks like timesheets
and approvals is a big leap towards engaging
the 37% of our global workforce predicted to be
mobile by 2015.
Innovating with best of
breed features
Any discussion about AX and innovation easily
shifts into the realm of retail. Microsoft has
made a large and sustained investment in
breathing new energy into the retail solution
space, and from what I saw in New Orleans,
AX is rapidly establishing its presence as the
innovator in omni-channel retailing.
Over the next year AX is set to evolve its omni-
channel capability with a new, cloud-enabled
Retail Server component designed to facilitate
innovative cross-channel experiences. We will see
a tablet POS experience out of the box running
on Retail Server. But the excitement sits with
the ability to leverage Retail Server’s standards
based oData communication to integrate
custom mobile apps and third party services
directly into the omni-channel AX experience.
Imagine turning a Facebook "like" into a wish
list in store and what this might mean for cross
and up-selling.
Amidst the exciting retail and app discussions,
the announcement of new warehouse
management and transportation management
solutions seemed almost underplayed. There
were very few details provided, apart from an
expected release date of the end 2013, so I’ve
turned to what AX does today to decipher this
announcement. AX has warehouse management
capability. With a little customisation and the
addition of an RF solution such as Dynamics
Anywhere, there is a lot of warehousing
capability in the product today. R2 even
introduced labour and storage capacity
modelling features. To warrant announcing a
new warehouse management system I expect
that within a year AX will deliver the kind of
best of breed warehousing capability that we
find in products like Manhattan SCALE today.
The hub in your composite
application landscape
It is truly fantastic to see Microsoft focus on
increasing the calibre of its flagship ERP suite
to address key business scenarios with best of
Kirill Tatarinov, president of the Microsoft Business Solutions, addresses the largest
Convergence crowd ever in New Orleans this year.
microsoftdynamics

5. SMARTS THE INTELLIGENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE ISSUE 31 5
breed solutions. And the addition of device
experiences pushing the envelope of user centric
design will excite every AX user. But legacy
systems take time to replace, and some solutions
will never be provided by ERP suites so AX will
often exist alongside other applications within
your enterprise.
Any multi-system environment can face
challenges with identifying a source of truth,
or a central point of process coordination. As
the heart of business process, ERP is often
a logical home for process coordination and
master data, but ERP suites rarely provide
enough flexibility to act in this role without a
significant middleware investment. The problem
then becomes the complexity of deploying and
maintaining the middleware solution itself. With
a mature integration framework, and natural
integration across the Microsoft stack, this is a
deployment model in which AX shines. AX often
enables a business to connect and integrate
their non-AX workloads without the complexity
and overhead of an additional, large middleware
solution. By keeping the solution simple, IT
departments can stay nimble and agile.
The next frontier
Consumerisation of IT drove a divide between
the strategy played out by an IT department and
the needs and desires of the broader business.
By delivering immersive device experiences,
innovating with best of breed features and
simplifying the application lifecycle, AX
is ever-improving as a product that allows
timely delivery of the functionality users and
consumers crave. In simple terms, it provides an
opportunity for IT to keep up with the pace of
change consumer devices now set.
The improvements announced at Convergence
will be delivered as part of AX 2012 in the
next year and it is not by accident that a lot
of new features are making increased use of
devices and services such as Azure. I would
not have done the world ahead for AX justice
if I failed to mention that this is really just the
start of the AX story in Microsoft’s devices
and services strategy. AX ‘7’ will be fully cloud
enabled with a next generation user interface
built using technologies such as HTML 5. Cloud
enabling AX is another step towards rapidly and
independently deployable ERP workloads. But
that really would be the next frontier…
Douglas Daley is a Solutions Specialist for
Microsoft Dynamics AX. Contact Douglas at:
douglas.daley@intergen.co.nz
Evolving
Microsoft
Dynamics CRM
Microsoft’s evolution of its Dynamics CRM
offering continued at Convergence, with much
talk about its upcoming release, codenamed
“Orion,” and discussion around two
acquisitions – one of which was announced at
the event.
Of all Microsoft’s enterprise applications,
Dynamics CRM is rapidly maturing: not only is
it becoming more scalable and more extensive,
more core features are being added and the
user interface continues to evolve. Increasingly,
many of these new features are coming from
acquisitions.
The Orion release, scheduled for late 2013,
will evolve the solution further, with the main
change being a substantial update of the
Dynamics CRM user interface, which appears
will change to the so-called “flow UI,” a first
iteration of which was seen in the “Polaris”
release of CRM, released in February 2013.
Indications are that every CRM entity will have
a new form and, unlike the current release,
there will be no way of switching back to the
classic forms. We will look to publish more
about this release later in the year.
In addition to evolving the core offering,
Microsoft announced the acquisition of
Netbreeze, a social monitoring and analytics
solution. According to Microsoft’s press release,
Netbreeze will deliver “… social monitoring and
analytics features as an integral part of the
user experience and provide these capabilities
to all roles and functions in an organisation.”
Essentially, Netbreeze will allow organisations
– and particularly those in sales, marketing and
customer service roles – to better listen and
make sense of social media, and then use CRM
to help make this data actionable – to use it to
improve the understanding of one’s customers,
and to act on these interactions.
Marketing Pilot, acquired by Microsoft in
November 2012, provides integrated marketing
management features, allowing organisations
to perform better marketing resource
management, digital asset management,
campaign management, marketing financials,
spend management, and perform media
buying and planning. These are all functions
needed by enterprise-level marketing
departments, and should allow Dynamics CRM
to improve its traction in this space.

6. 6
managementCONSULTING
Introducing X4 Consulting
Q&A
With the recent launch of management
consultancy firm X4 Consulting, we take
the opportunity to talk to X4’s CEO, Mick
Bell, and Principal Consultant, Boris Guskee,
about what X4 is, what it does, and its plans
for the future.
Q: What is X4 Consulting?
A: M.B. X4 is a new management
consultancy that’s very much focused on
working with our clients to accelerate
their business success, particularly in the
areas of change and transformation. We
want to work with our clients to ensure
that they can achieve the benefits and
the results they are after.
Q: What services are you bringing
to market?
A: B.G. We bring a lot of things you’d
expect to see in a traditional consulting
organisation. The main two are business
analysis and enterprise architecture
in which we have significant skills.
We’re also putting a lot of focus on
organisational change management and
business process improvement. We think
there are weaknesses in the Australasian
market in these areas and we want to
plug the gaps and really drive some extra
value here.
Q: Why create a new consulting business?
A: M.B. X4 Consulting is an independent,
technology-agnostic consulting
organisation created to deliver these
services; however it also complements
Intergen’s suite of services. Intergen is a
well-established, top quality technology
company and, where appropriate, we will
provide high-end consulting services that
complement what Intergen does, giving
customers the option of using this added
capability.
Q: What’s your main point of difference?
A: B.G. Real gains in organisational
performance are achieved by taking a
holistic approach that addresses business
needs and drivers, business processes and
underlying capabilities. Our main point of
difference is the combination of services
that we offer to our clients. We understand
generic organisational pain points, and our
consulting services address these through
the end-to-end development lifecycle,
from vision through to architecture,
design and change management, to
post-implementation monitoring and
quality assurance review. In a sense
we see ourselves as a one-stop shop of
services needed to improve organisational
performance and deliver business success.
Q: Tell us about the X4 team.
A: B.G. We’re a strong team of experienced
management consultants who are
passionate about helping our clients to
succeed. We’ve brought to bear some
top quality leadership and consulting
capability from New Zealand and
overseas, and we have leaders in each
of our key service lines: architecture,
business analysis, organisational change
management and business process
improvement.
A: M.B. Our collective experience spans a wide
range of organisations in New Zealand –
our team have been doing this work for a
long time; so X4 is a new embodiment of
capabilities that have existed in different
guises in the past. Between us we’ve
worked for most of the large organisations
in the country, delivering a range of
substantial projects.
What brought us together is a shared
desire for delivering tangible results, a
good team spirit, and last but not least the
Fun Factor.
Q: Tell us about your journey so far with X4.
A: B.G. We have been operating in stealth
mode for half a year and we are going
to market as X4 Consulting with full
capability on board. We have already
completed two major assignments and
are now ready to offer our full range of
services to clients.
Q: What sorts of projects have you been
working on to date?
X4 Consulting CEO, Mick Bell, and Principal Consultant, Boris Guskee.

7. SMARTS THE INTELLIGENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE ISSUE 31 7
A: B.G. To date we’ve been working
with two high profile New Zealand
Government clients, assisting
the first one taking a technology
architecture lead role on a large
mobility related programme of work
that is instrumental in helping the
government achieve its goal of
producing better public services.
A: M.B. The other agency [we’re working
with] is going through a large
transformational change – they are
doubling in size and being assigned
new responsibilities over the next
couple of years. We’ve been helping
with the IT strategy to ensure that
their IT services and capabilities are
aligned to the future business growth
and business imperatives.
Q: What does X4 mean?
A: B.G. One of our original thoughts
was that x to the power of 3 is a box
and x to the power of 4 adds another
dimension – thus we add a new
dimension to your thinking or “we
think outside the box.”
Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: M.B. In terms of growth we’re
building a significant practice here
in Wellington initially. In the future
we’ll extend this capability to the
Auckland and Sydney markets,
covering other regions from these
main centres.
A: B.G. Our goal is to be regarded as
one of the leading consultancies
in New Zealand offering business
transformation services and
technology alignment services to
help our clients accelerate their
business success.
Getting the most out
of your BI toolkit
The Microsoft BI Academy facilitates education
around the use of Microsoft’s business intelligence solutions.
For the second year in a row, CIOs are
telling Gartner that business intelligence
and analytics are their highest IT priorities
during 2013, with big data and other
industry trends creating momentum around
how data is accessed, aggregated, reported
and analysed.
Potentially valuable insights are being
generated constantly by many of the key
systems we run, and there is significant
opportunity to make use of these to improve
decision-making and attain competitive
advantage.
But there is often a fundamental roadblock
to realising these insights: to create them,
we need the skills to use the tools we have
at our disposal. Once an organisation
has made the – often considerable –
investment in a BI solution, often realising
the full benefit can be impeded by a lack
of confidence and capability within the
organisation to make the most of this
investment.
But how does one get these skills? In
looking at the market, we’ve discovered
there are currently few pathways when it
comes to getting the required knowledge.
With that in mind, Intergen is facilitating
a series of training courses with an
industry expert, designed to empower
those in both technical and business-
related roles to better understand
how these tools can be used to
greater advantage.
Called the “Microsoft BI Academy,” this series
of courses will be delivered by Peter Myers,
an independent trainer who is well respected
globally for his ability to train in these topics.
This initiative is being endorsed by Microsoft,
who also understands the importance of
organisation realising the benefits of their BI
solutions.
According to Corina Radovanovich, product
marketing manager for Microsoft Business
Intelligence in New Zealand, “the team at
Microsoft NZ is thrilled to work with Intergen
and Peter Myers to offer the Microsoft BI
Academy. The new, more in-depth, course format
will benefit both new and returning students.
By attending this course you will improve
your ability to impact your organisation with
deeper insights into BI technology, strategy and
implementation.”
This training is available to anyone who has,
or is considering, implementing a Microsoft-
based BI solution and will be run as a series of
two-day events in both Auckland and Wellington
from early June. For more information on these
courses, visit www.intergen.co.nz/training.
Mick Bell is the CEO of X4 Consulting.
Contact Mick at mick.bell@x4consulting.co.nz

8. 8
microsoftdynamics
Intergenite
Thomas Hald
What do you do?
My work day usually includes
elements of Dynamics AX project
delivery, QA and governance on
projects, marketing of AX internally
and externally, presales work, business
development and market research,
talking to clients about strategy,
solutions and Intergen innovations.
We wrap up that in a title of Solution
Specialist, indicating that I focus
my efforts around the Dynamics AX
product.
How do you make a difference?
Hopefully the clients I am in contact
with see the value of having me
involved. It’s about providing services
and IP that exceed expectations.
What do you love about your job?
That it is very diverse and gives
me lots of opportunity to work
with clients on strategy, business
challenges and innovative solutions.
I love that the Intergen team I work
with is the best in the industry, and
that we consistently are able to churn
out quality solutions.
A bit about yourself…
I’m first and foremost a family man,
and I will most often laugh out loud
in the company of my two boys – they
crack me up! I enjoy cooking – I used
to be a chef in a past life – and I
will whip up MasterChef dinners for
the family on a daily basis. I used
to cook for the Danish royal family,
which taught me a bit about quality,
integrity and focus on knowing your
ingredients and doing the simple
things well to enjoy perfection in
complex dishes… or projects.
Microsoft’s commitment to the cloud now
encompasses its ERP products, and in
2012 it announced updated roadmaps for
its Dynamics AX and Dynamics NAV ERP
offerings that incorporated cloud deployment
options for the first time.
According to recent research by Cisco, if given
the choice of only being able to move one
application to the cloud, most respondents
would choose storage as their first choice,
but this was closely followed by Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) applications, with
organisations looking to effectively outsource
the management of these mission critical
systems. Interestingly, email and collaboration
solutions followed.
Building on the experiences developing
market-leading solutions such as Outlook.com,
Office 365 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011,
Microsoft is well placed to take advantage of
this expertise and apply it to the ERP space.
Why move your ERP system to
the cloud?
Having your ERP system hosted in the cloud can
provide a range of benefits when compared to
traditional in-house, or on-premise, deployments.
At the end of the day, the decision comes
down to understanding the opportunities and
challenges of how your ERP solution can be
deployed, and weighing those up against the
needs of your organisation.
There are many advantages to cloud
deployment, but the biggest consideration is
typically cost. Rather than being purchased
outright, cloud-based ERP implementations
are paid for through subscriptions – usually
a per user, per month fee – which typically
includes not just the software but also the
hosting and support costs. Thus, the initial
capital expenditure required for implementation
is significantly lower than for traditional
systems, and operating costs can often be
lower as well. The provider is responsible for
maintaining the hardware and software, and
their on-going maintenance needs, including
patches and updates. Furthermore, they also
perform operational functions such as backups
and monitoring. In other words, this frees up
expensive IT resources to focus on tasks that can
add value to your organisation.
Implementation times can also be reduced.
Server hardware and supporting devices don’t
need to be procured and shipped, while the
ERP software can often be implemented more
quickly as it’s easier to set up and use the
environment and the core functionality.
On the other hand, there are challenges that
ERP in the cloud may pose for organisations.
Some may struggle with the perceived lack
of control, not having the hardware and
application in-house where it can be seen and
“touched.” Similarly, there is the potential loss of
performance and reliability, or concerns that the
systems may not be secure – all of these risks
can be mitigated, but nonetheless they must be
factored into to any decision-making.
Microsoft NAV 2013 is cloud ready
Intergen has recently started offering a cloud-
based version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013,
giving customers the option of having either
a cloud-based version or an implementation
that is installed on-premise. Unlike many less
established, pure web-based experiences in
the market, Dynamics NAV 2013 is a mature
offering with a depth of capability unlike many
other cloud-based solutions in the midrange
ERP space.
With adoption rates of cloud ERP solutions
increasing, having a choice of deployment gives
our customers the option to select a solution
that meets their current and future business
needs, while providing a mature and well-
rounded solution that offers more than many
other competing offerings in the market.
ERP in the Cloud
xxxxxxx
Microsoft provides organisations with choice
in how their ERP system is deployed
– which one is right for you?
IMPLEMENTATIONSIZE
SYSTEM COMPLEXITY
Whether you choose a hosted or on-premise ERP system can
depend on how large your organisation is, and how complex
your system needs to be. One size doesn't necessarily fit all.
SOURCE: BOOZ & CO.

9. SMARTS THE INTELLIGENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE ISSUE 31 9
The situation
As the governing body of rugby union in
Australia, responsible for the Wallabies and
working with eight member unions across
each of Australia’s states and territories, the
Australian Rugby Union (ARU) operates in
a complex and multi-faceted operational
environment. As a public body within an
increasingly professional industry, and in an
economic climate in which tight financial control
and visibility is paramount, the ARU needed a
new technology platform to bring about best
practice, enable effective shared services across
its unions and create much greater visibility of
and reporting on its financial activities.
The pain
Since the dawn of professionalism in rugby in
the mid-1990s “the business of rugby has grown
tremendously,” says Todd Day, Chief Financial
Officer for the ARU. “Before our decision to
upgrade our ERP system, we were operating
on a system that that had been in the business
for over 15 years. Its basicness created very
inefficient, cumbersome and time-consuming
processes and it had clearly passed its use-by
date in the business”, Todd explains.
“We were extremely limited in our ability to
provide relevant and timely service to the
business. We needed a finance system that
could handle real-time purchase ordering and
commitment processes, and a system that
provided real-time reporting functionality to
departments. Under the existing system it was
near impossible to accurately report what the
business had purchased or who had purchased
it until it turned up on our doorstep. It became a
bit of a lucky dip at month-end and year-end in
accurately reporting and forecasting the results
of the business, and you cannot manage a
business like that,” Todd says.
Further adding to the complexity of the
operational environment was the adoption of
a shared service environment by the ARU and
member unions. “Whilst there were certain
commonalities between us all, there are also
some unique differences which need to be
individually addressed, so we needed a solution
that could cater for multiple situations,” Todd
continues. “We needed a solution that met these
shared services initiatives.”
Upping the game with Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012
By creating an enterprise portal that could be
accessed right across the business, self-service
options would empower users within the
finance team and beyond, as well as creating
commonalities and automating processes,
ultimately providing much-needed visibility of
expenses, purchases and cashflow.
The solution
“As a medium-sized business we recognised
the need to make the investment in a
contemporary ERP system, and as an
organisation we have had significant exposure
to Microsoft technologies,” Todd says.
“Intergen came recommended to us by our IT
department, having worked with us before in
other areas of the business.”
With the scope narrowed down to Microsoft
ERP products, ARU and Intergen embarked on
a series of diagnostic workshops to determine
which ERP solution would provide the best
fit. At the end of the analysis it was decided
that Microsoft Dynamics AX best fitted ARU’s
needs, and the implementation process began.
“The diagnostic process was a very beneficial
one to go through. The exercise forces you to
re-examine and evaluate the processes that
your business has built up over many years,”
Todd says.
The gain
“With our new ERP system in place, we now
have much tighter control over our procurement
processes – something we were particularly
weak in. It’s a big change for the business,” he
continues. “And not just for the finance team –
right across the organisation.”
With Dynamics AX in place, the whole enterprise
is on the same page, with staff now able to do
their commitments and purchasing through
the online portal, and management also able
to access reports through the portal and take
ownership of approvals online. The AX platform
enables far greater staff engagement and direct
access, as well as vastly improved visibility of
financial information, a stable system, greater
efficiency in reporting and real-time views.
ARU now has a solid platform for future phases
of work, such as integrating with other Microsoft
technologies within the organisation and is
well poised to realise ongoing benefits from the
solution.
“The business of rugby is like any other business,
and as the economic environment confronting
us becomes tighter, our ability to forecast and be
more accountable in our cashflow and expense
management, and timely and efficient financial
reporting, is vital. I am confident that our new
Dynamics AX system greatly enhances our
ability to do this,” Todd says.
microsoftdynamics
From manual “lucky dip” to full visibility and best
practice with self-service portal.

10. 10
SoCIALenterprise
The roadmap for the
social enterprise:
Intergenite
Roanne Steele
What do you do?
I’m responsible for Intergen’s
Applications Services team, and we
look after our clients’ applications.
We’re involved throughout the total
lifecycle of a system, from the start
of the project through to when the
solution goes live and beyond.
How do you make a difference?
My team is involved in the total
lifecycle of an application. We’re there
at the beginning and the end of a
project and understand the whole
environment. This means we have the
business knowledge and a really good
understanding of the client and
their needs.
What do you love about your job?
I love working in IT. I love being able to
work with people, helping people and
seeing how IT can make their world
better and change their lives. I love
being able to get to the bottom of why
things are happening and understand
what needs to change – I think that’s
what makes my role special.
A bit about yourself…
I’m a keen woodworker, and I’m also
(slowly) doing up my house. In the
rest of my free time I have what seems
to be the typical IT-worker hobbies –
mountain biking, hiking and reading.
At the root of social technologies lies a
drive for two things: open conversations
and personal connections. And while social
platforms have been ubiquitous in our
personal lives for some time now, the penny is
fast dropping within the enterprise. Business
is social, and organisations need to embrace
these “connected experiences” – connections
between people, and connections between
various technologies – in order to get the most
from their people and to gain competitive
advantage in an ever-changing world.
With this realisation, the rapid rise in social
networks has seen millions of people around
the world embrace new forms of keeping in
touch and up to date. The metrics supporting
this are both impressive and remarkable: In the
late nineteenth century, radio took 38 years to
reach 50 million users. In the early twenty-first
century, Facebook hit 100 million users in less
than nine months and now has more than
one billion people using its service. As has
happened many times in the past, if people
are becoming used to using these services
for their personal use, it’s natural to consider
using similar services in the enterprise.
In mid-2012, around the same time as Microsoft
SharePoint 2013 was released to market,
Microsoft stole a march in the social space
with its acquisition of best-of-breed enterprise
social networking tool, Yammer. This acquisition,
coupled with the social-related capabilities of
SharePoint 2013, place Microsoft as a leader in
this rapidly-evolving category.
Social growth is off the charts,
and it’s changing the way we work.
Gartner predicts that 40% of the world’s
large enterprises will have an enterprise social
network by 2015, with 85% of Fortune 500
companies already using Yammer. It’s still
early days though – Microsoft tells us that of
the world’s 600 million information workers,
only a few million are using social networking
technologies at work. But Microsoft plans to
change all that.
In a world where we’re increasingly busy and
increasingly mobile, the value of Yammer,
and how it helps employees get more done
by making organisations more open and
connected, is seen in recent metrics released by
the company.
Deeper connections,
connected experiences
Source: Microsoft – The Social and Collaborative organisation
Trends impacting the way we work:
We’re all heading
for the cloud.
50% of enterprise
customers are on the
road to the cloud.
50%
We’re social. 82%
of the world’s online
population engages in
social networking.
82%
We’re mobile. Microsoft
tells us there will be one
billion smartphones in
use by 2016, with 350
million of those being
used at work.
1
BILLION

11. SMARTS THE INTELLIGENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE ISSUE 31 11
According to Yammer’s 2013 Business Value
Survey, not only do more than two-thirds of
employees believe that Yammer simplifies the
process of communicating with colleagues
in different locations or departments, but a
similar number believe the solution improves
communication across locations as well.
Importantly, in a world where staff engagement
is becoming increasingly difficult, 80 per
cent of respondents believed they were more
informed about what was happening in their
organisation – something organisations of all
types have traditionally struggled with. With 76
per cent of employees believing they have more
visibility into what’s happening elsewhere in
their organisation one can see how overall staff
satisfaction could be improved as a result.
When two paradigms combine: people-
centric meets document-centric
For many, Microsoft’s move to acquire Yammer
was confusing. SharePoint 2013 already
embraces social – so why bring Yammer into the
picture as well?
The “why Yammer” question is one that Jared
Spataro, senior director of Microsoft’s Office
Division, relishes. Spataro asserts: “Yammer not
only gives us a best-in-class social networking
service, it brings an incredibly talented team
with a shared vision of the future, a proven
track record of rapid innovation in the cloud,
and a commitment to building connected
experiences that end users love. It doesn't get
any better than that. Yes, the two products
both have newsfeeds, but that doesn't bother
us very much. We see the people-centric
paradigm of Yammer and the more document-
centric model of SharePoint as incredibly
complementary - and a powerful combination.
“We want to go from a world where a couple
million people use social to a world where
hundreds of millions of people rely on it every
day to get things done.”
Microsoft’s roadmap – social
everywhere
The future in a nutshell? Microsoft wants to
make Yammer the social layer across all its
products.
At this year’s Convergence conference,
Microsoft gave its enterprise social roadmap
update, touching on the three phases of
Yammer integration: basic integration, deeper
Robert Stewart is a Solutions Specialist for
Microsoft SharePoint. Contact Robert at:
robert.stewart@intergen.co.nz
connections, and connected experiences.
The integration of Yammer and Dynamics CRM
was demoed at the event, although this is only
one part of the picture.
Integration with Microsoft’s ERP products
is also planned, and moving into 2014,
Office 365 will be updated with new social
enhancements roughly every 90 days, starting
at first by deepening the connections between
Yammer and Office 365 services and over time
expanding these enhancements to combine
social, collaboration, email, instant messaging,
voice, video and line of business applications
in innovative new ways.
And, over the next few years, social capabilities
will be incorporated across most of Microsoft’s
enterprise applications, facilitating internal
and external communications across
employees, partners and vendors.
It’s all about the people
Business is all about people, and solutions
such as Yammer and SharePoint help to
improve communication and collaboration –
between people and between organisations.
For those organisations who have invested
in SharePoint, there are opportunities to use
Yammer to add an integrated social “layer”
that ties the two applications together; and
for those (admittedly fewer) organisations
who have invested in Yammer, SharePoint
can provide a collaboration foundation that
can complement Yammer’s social networking
capabilities.
Individually, each solution is compelling in
its own right, but when used together a step-
change in employee productivity can
be realised.
“We see the people-centric
paradigm of Yammer and the
more document-centric model
of SharePoint as incredibly
complementary – and a
powerful combination.”
Jared Spataro
senior director
Microsoft Office DivisionYAMMER ENTERPRISE SOCIAL NETWORKING SERVICES
BEST-IN-CLASS ENTERPRISE SOCIAL NETWORKING
Stand-alone social service – In-app social experiences
YAMMER SHAREPOINT MICROSOFT DYNAMICSOFFICE 365

12. www.twitter.com/teamintergen www.linkedin.com/companies/intergenFOLLOW US www.intergen.co.nz/blog
Intergen is a trans-Tasman
information technology
services company that solves
challenging business problems
using the latest Microsoft
solutions. We provide our
customers with a range of
solutions and services, including
financial and relationship
management, portals, content
and collaboration solutions,
custom software development,
and consulting services.
THE SITUATION
Senses Foundation is a not-for-profit
organisation providing disability support
services throughout Western Australia with
unique services for people who are deafblind.
One of Senses Foundation’s strategic goals
is to grow and develop resources to best
meet the disability service needs of their
clients. To help reach this goal, Senses
Foundation needed to update their finance
system so they could clearly see where their
resources were being used. Darren Munday,
General Manager Finance and Risk at Senses
Foundation explains:
“Shedding more light on our financial activities
is key, especially so our management team
and stakeholders can make the best business
decisions for our clients. We needed a system
that could automatically drill down on data
and connect the dots freely without any
technological hitches. The system had to
manage all financial activities (general ledger,
chart of accounts, importing journals, running
reports, analysing data) in an effective and
efficient manner.”
Microsoft NAV helps
Senses Foundation
THE PAIN
Senses Foundation’s old
financial system was
outdated. It did not have
the financial capability they
needed to make the best
resourcing and financial
decisions. As Darren
elaborates:
“Our system needed to capture a greater level
of detail across a range of attributes so that we
could slice and dice that information for better
decision making. Things that made our job
frustrating were: there was no flexibility when it
came to reporting and we needed to drill down
on certain areas of the business; our financial
system would corrupt when uploading journals
and would require a re-boot; and analysing
figures was laborious and required many
workarounds.”
THE SOLUTION
Senses Foundation had an external IT review to
see what ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
solution would be the best fit. Microsoft NAV
was recommended - it could show them where
their resources were going and deal with their
financial activity in an effective and efficient
manner. And with Senses Foundation in growth
mode, they needed a system that could handle
business expansion.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV has a familiar, user-
friendly interface – also a priority for Senses
Foundation in their search for an ERP solution.
Intergen was selected to implement an out of
the box, Rapid Results solution, which took less
than eight weeks to implement, and now all
systems are go.
THE GAIN
With a precise picture of their financial activity,
Senses Foundation can now make the best
resourcing decisions for their organisation. As
Darren Munday, concludes:
“We can now focus on the task at hand –
providing our clients with the right resources
and making sure we’re using our resources
wisely. We can easily track and report on how
microsoftdynamics
dollars have been spent and it’s all accountable.
This is vital information for the management
team and stakeholders supporting our
organisation. We’ve also saved about three
to four days in our end-of-month financial
processes. Implementation happened pretty
quickly and the Microsoft system is familiar and
easy to use.”
THE FUTURE
Next up, Intergen and Senses Foundation are
implementing Microsoft Dynamics CRM, not
only to effectively manage their client database,
but also so they can take their resourcing
knowledge a step further. As Darren explains:
“Having clearer insight into our clients’ progress
and activity is important to ensure we are
providing them with the best service and
allocating the right resources, with the lowest
possible overhead.”
Using Dynamics NAV to make resourcing decisions.
"We can easily track and report
on how dollars have been
spent - it’s all accountable.
This is vital information for
the management team and
stakeholders that support our
organisation. We‘ve also saved
three to four days in our end-
of-month financial processes."
Darren MundAy
General manager Finance & Risk
Senses Foundation