Industry: Information Technology – Computer Software
Company Overview:
In 1982, robotics expert Gary Hendrix garnered a grant from the National Science Foundation for his artificial intelligence projects and founded Symantec. This now well-known business name is a synthesis of the words “semantics” (which is defined as “relating to meaning in language or logic”) and “syntax” (which refers to the arrangement of words to create sentences). Within several years of research, Hendrix and his colleagues had developed an advanced coding language system and database that quickly captured the interest of fellow start-ups (such as Steve Jobs’ Apple) and numerous businesses.
Since then, Symantec has found its niche and excelled in storage, security, and computer backup, for which it offers a variety of products, services, and support systems. This Fortune 500 ranked company is heralded as the top certification authority, meaning that it is the most trusted digital third-party verification software in the world, keeping millions of individuals’ and corporations’ data safe and sound. Symantec is best known for its line of Norton antivirus and security products. Today, the company grosses over $6.6 billion annually and employs more than 20,000.The Challenge:
The Challenge:
Late on a Friday afternoon, Symantec’s Channel Marketing Manager (the executive who promotes and distributes a particular division of its products) contacted us in a panic. Symantec desperately needed to integrate and automate three separate applications: Excel, Outlook, and its hard-coded (programmed such that it cannot be easily modified) html company website. Basically, the business needed us to design a solution that would allow employees to effortlessly, automatically pull data from Excel documents, place it into the correct places in the source html, and send that information through outlook. The kicker was that the user performing these three steps needed to be able to complete them rapidly and without ever leaving the Excel interface. In short, Symantec wanted a true “one-click” program anyone could use.
This would have been a relatively complex project to complete in a week’s time, but we didn’t have that luxury: Symantec needed the new system by Monday morning. Fortunately, our dedicated developers and consultants aren’t fazed by weekend work or tight deadlines. The Channel Marketing Manager asked if Excel Consultant would have the skills to complete this project in time, and we responded “of course.” In truth, we relished the opportunity to confirm that we have one of the best Microsoft consulting teams in the country. There was no time to waste—we gave her the estimate at 3:47 pm, she approved it at 4:05 pm, and we had begun work by 5 pm. When most technology companies would be shutting down for the week, our office was bustling with activity. Our long-term senior developer, Jacob, performed the programmer, while CEO, Founder, and President, Christopher, used his three decades of experience to smoothly manage this high-pressure project. Since time was clearly of the essence, our team worked into the evening and finished the entire assignment by Saturday afternoon.
Key Benefits:
Time was the key element throughout this project—we completed the task extremely efficiently and delivered an outstanding solution that saved the Channel Marketing Manager hours of work. By integrating and automating the data transfer process from Excel to hard-coded html to Outlook, what once took employees a full weekend (18 hours of work) to complete required less than five minutes.
Obviously, another key benefit we provided was our absolute, abiding availability. Most technology consultants take at least 24 hours to respond to a new lead and refuse to operate outside of normal business hours. Those that will work evenings, weekends, or holidays typically charge a premium for these services. At Excel Consultant, we’ve built our business entirely around or clients’ needs. To facilitate successful collaboration, we prefer to work when they work, and since we have so many international clients, this often means keeping odd hours. We’re dedicated to earning our customers’ long-term business, so we do not make them wait.
In the case of Symantec’s emergency project, our willingness to cooperate with their demanding schedule made all the difference. We secured this esteemed, international company’s business because we were there for them in their time of need. Excel Consultant is delighted that they chose to partner with us for this challenging project so that we could demonstrate our extensive expertise and superior customer service.
The Channel Marketing Manager clearly appreciated our efforts when she was able to complete her work and meet her deadline come Monday morning. Her immediate feedback was short and sweet: “It worked perfectly…Thanks for the great job!”
If you’d like to optimize your operations or streamline your workflow with Microsoft technology, don’t hesitate to contact Excel Consultant anytime (even on a Friday afternoon!).
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