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ISV success stories
Discovery Solutions International, Inc., hits a gusher with published case study and lead generation benefits
Discovery Solutions International, Inc., and IBM go back a long way. Founded in 1983, Discovery Solutions originally developed their enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions to run on IBM System/3x mid-range platforms and have remained loyal as the technology has evolved into today's IBM System i5 servers.
Discovery Solutions' customers are small and medium-sized businesses in the oilfield service and supply industry who want to automate daily business transactions and management reporting activities.
Discovery Solutions' Discovery Management Software® is designed for customers who have older legacy systems or who have outgrown their entry-level systems to allow them to reduce labor costs, improve their access to management information, and improve computer user productivity.
One such customer is Nusco Supply and Manufacturing, a maker of specialized equipment for the oil and gas industry. Like Discovery Solutions, Nusco is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Nusco found that their growth was being hampered by outdated manual administrative tasks that were getting in the way of handling incoming orders from customers and outgoing orders to vendors for raw materials. Tracking minute details is important in an industry where every drilling rig or well site is unique, and variations and changes are common.
Nusco needed the best of both worlds—speed and detail—and they found both in a joint solution from Discovery Solutions and IBM. The solution includes Version 7 of Oilfield Manufacturing ERP software from Discovery Solutions, along with IBM DB2 Query Manager and SQL Development Toolkit, IBM DB2 Universal Database for iSeries, and IBM eServer iSeries 520.
Since installing this solution, Nusco has experienced customer order processing that is three times faster and purchase order processing that is five times faster than before. They've also had double-digit revenue increases, along with a 30-percent jump in manufacturing capacity.
An IBM Business Partner since 1985, Discovery Solutions is now a Premier member of IBM PartnerWorld. They participate in the PartnerWorld Industry Networks, where they've qualified for industry-optimized benefits in both the fabrication and assembly and the wholesale industry networks.
"Participating in PartnerWorld Industry Networks and using the benefits has been very good for us," said Al Brown, vice president of sales and marketing at Discovery Solutions. "We're able to gain easy access to resources that are a great help in marketing to our prospects."
In March 2006, Discovery Solutions used the direct mail and telemarketing benefit to produce and send a marketing flyer promoting their Discovery Management Software to 1000 prospects.
They used a Campaign Designer template to easily create a direct mail piece that included their own messaging. IBM took care of the mailing and follow-up telemarketing calls. "The mail piece was very effective, and the whole campaign worked out really well," said Brown. "All of the prospects who were contacted in the follow-up calls actually remembered getting the flyers."
"The campaign generated lots of leads and activity," he continued. "We're currently working on 40 active leads as a result."
In 2005, Discovery Solutions took advantage of a special incentive that gave them a no-charge, one-year listing of Discovery Management Software in KnowledgeStorm, the leading business technology directory on the Internet.
Brown says that the listing has generated three solid leads so far, and he anticipates that they will sign up again when their one-year subscription runs out. Through the industry networks, they'll then get a 50-percent discount off the standard annual subscription rate.
Discovery Management Software is also listed in the IBM Business Partner Application Showcase, where thousands of customers come to ibm.com each day to search for applications that fit their requirements. Plus, Discovery Solutions gains visibility for their company and applications with IBM sales personnel and executives.
Potential clients find information about the Discovery Management Software solution when their search by industry, business need, and country brings up the Discovery Solutions listing as a match. The prospect can then go directly to the Business Partner for follow-up using the Contact Partner link. Searchers who find Discovery Solutions' listing will find they have an "industry expert" designation, highlighting their expertise in their industries.
Because of their industry-optimized status and the success of the joint solution at Nusco, Discovery Solutions was also eligible to use the published case study benefit. Through this benefit, IBM has designed and produced a full color, four-page case study brochure for Discovery Solutions at no charge, promoting the win at Nusco.
Written from the customer's perspective, the case study demonstrates the business value and proven success that Nusco is experiencing after installing the Discovery Solutions Oilfield Manufacturing ERP application with IBM middleware and hardware.
Discovery Solutions can use the case study as they see fit in their marketing activities, and it is also posted as both a Web page and a downloadable file on the ibm.com Web site.
Brown says that the case study is a great help in his company's marketing cycle. "With this brochure, we can do what could otherwise take multiple sales calls to accomplish," he said.
"References are key to our success, and, in just a few pages, the case study shows a prospect exactly what we can do," he continued. "The combination of a successful, real-world example and proof of our relationship with IBM gives us great credibility."
Discovery Solution's story about their win with Orban Industries, Ltd., another oil and gas production and processing equipment manufacturer in Calgary, shows how effective a case study can be.
In the second quarter of 2006, Orban Industries was searching the Internet for software when they found the Discovery Solutions case study on the IBM Web site. Their curiosity was sparked when they read about the benefits that their competitor, Nusco, had gained from installing Discovery Solutions' ERP system.
Orban Industries contacted Discovery Solutions right away to learn more. As a result, they, too, have installed and are being trained on basically the same combination of Discovery Solutions and IBM software and hardware as was implemented for Nusco.
"The amazing thing is that Orban Industries is located within a mile of us in Calgary," says Brown. "We were not aware of and hadn't even included them in the marketing campaign that we'd just conducted. We were connected with this customer and closed business as a direct result of the case study posted on the IBM Web site."
According to Brown, "We signed up for PartnerWorld Industry Networks because it sounded like a good way to get assistance in generating awareness of our company in the marketplace—to get our solution out there and noticed by potential customers."
So far, it looks like PartnerWorld Industry Networks is living up to Discovery Solutions' expectations.
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