Alpha inversiones - Microsoft Dynamics Partner LATAM

Alpha Inversiones brokerage firm in Dominican Republic strengthens its business model with the support of Dynamics 365

With the support of Dynamics 365, the company has obtained a 360° vision of its business, improving its sales operations and customer relations. In addition, it has been able to automate different processes and comply with the regulations of the local securities superintendency.

Alpha Inversiones is one of the most important brokerage firms in the Dominican Republic, positioned as an outstanding reference in the securities market. The company is dedicated to financial intermediation, with the vision of offering well-being to its clients through long-term relationships and intelligent investments.

In 2018, after making a diagnosis of its technological infrastructure and consolidating the business vision of its managers, the entity prepared a strategic plan for digital transformation in which it evaluated different options, opting primarily for Microsoft technology.

In conjunction with C-Ven Technologies, a Microsoft partner in the region, which already had experience working for the financial sector, Alpha Inversiones implemented Dynamics 365 for Sales as its customer relationship management (CRM) support system. In addition, StocKlaud, a nrodema platform adaptable to stock market management, was deployed on top of Dynamics 365. Santiago de la Cruz, IT and project manager at Alpha Inversiones says: “The main objective of this action was to have a tool that would provide a 360-degree view of each tooth, in addition to tracking for the sales force. Previously, we did not have a tool where we could consult the information and interactions we had with each client”.

Benefits for the sales force

Dynamics 365 for Sales has been a valuable tool for Alpha Inversiones’ sales force. According to the IT director, the Dominican Republic’s stock market is relatively new, so winning over a potential client requires a variety of business strategies. In this sense, he comments that the investor’s confidence in the stock exchange plays a fundamental role.

Before, in order to open an account for a new client, it was necessary to print the file of each user and initiate a manual process that involved different areas of the service, in charge of validating compliance with all the requirements.

The implementation of Dynamics 365 for Sales has made it possible to strengthen alliances with investors, as well as to streamline and automate customer relationship processes in a centralized manner. De la Cruz equates the execution of the approach to stakeholders as follows: “When a prospective customer asked to evaluate our service offering, the sales force would schedule a face-to-face visit, and take notes in an agenda manually. Without technologies to unify the process of onboarding new clients, we often missed the opportunity to follow up, and the sale slipped through the cracks,’ he says. With Dynamics 365 for Sales, we were able to automate the previous process.

Today, the interested party has the possibility of becoming a client of Alpha Inversiones from home, and in a matter of minutes. The process consists of completing a web form created using an Asure-based solution from C-Ven Technologies called Stockdoud. The shared data travels to Alpha Inversiones’ CRM and then this information is assigned to a broker, who is responsible for finalizing the request online. Michelle Periche, Account Manager at C-Ven Technologies, says: “It’s a complete solution: it helps foster investor relationships, create brokerage accounts, manage orders and streamline operations. It increases broker productivity by consolidating operations on a single platform, and has integrations to Careyother systems.”

Better control of finances and operations

Together with partner KCP, Alpha Inversiones implemented Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that has had a direct impact on internal operations, allowing the linking of tasks that were previously done manually (accounts payable and receivable, purchasing process, fixed assets, etc.), which has resulted in agility and consolidation in internal procedures.

Cristina Bermudez. KCP Regional Manager for the Caribbean and Central America adds:

In the past, the client used 5 tools for accounting. Now it has been simplified to a single ERP where everything is integrated, allowing better traceability and productivity.

For the implementation of Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations as ERP, information gathering sessions were carried out. The partner KCP and the accounting users of Alpha Inversiones made their design and customization proposals, taking into account the needs of each ERP module.

After consensual approval, the final configurations were made, the balance sheets were uploaded, and the tool went live. Berrnudez adds: “One of the major challenges was the need to complete the project in the shortest possible time. We set ourselves an ambitious goal of six months, even though it was a big challenge. Thanks to the synergy of the Alpha Inversiones, KCP, and Microsoft teams, we were able to meet our goal”.

The partner KCP offers services for different regional consulting teams, for this reason, it employs face-to-face and remote work models.

In the case of Alpha Inversiones, several project activities were carried out under these two concepts, effectively and without technical complications. During the execution it was necessary to train around 12 people within the company, who were then responsible for transmitting their knowledge to new users.

Paul Saldivar, Project Manager at Alpha Inversiones comments:

Adopting these two models was very practical for our projects as it provided facilities for the coordination of I. teams, greater fluidity in the trainings, allowing the reduction of choreas’.

Integration with the superintendency’s reporting system

These implementations represented significant challenges for Alpha Inversiones. Together with KCP, a customization of Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations was executed, which represented 11% of the solution. The platform facilitates Alpha Inversiones to generate, automatically,a series of financial reports for the local securities superintendence. These are delivered continuously throughout the year, as part of the requirements the company must follow to comply with local regulations.Saldivar explains:

On the one hand, we had to make sure that the processes carried out in the ERP were in line with the superintendency’s regulations, and on the other hand, we had to make sure that they could be integrated with the platforms we were already using. Previously we spent many hours of staff time to comply with the reports.

In the words of Alpha Inversiones’ IT director, Santiago de la Cruz, “The Dominican Republic’s securities market is a young market that is constantly evolving, which is why Alpha Inversiones is frequently in technological growth to meet the challenges of the sector.Therefore, it expects to continue optimizing its financial services through technological investment and the additional adoption of Microsoft solutions. Its intention is to increasingly meet the requirements of its customers and inject positively in the economy of the nation.