Ementor Uses Microsoft Certification to Maintain Regional IT Leadership

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The Nordic region’s leading IT company, Ementor, provides customers with a broad range of system integration and business solutions. Ementor operates from 21 offices in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.  Certifying company software engineers and solution developers helped Ementor maintain its regional leadership by increasing revenues, adding value to existing services, and offering a more comprehensive, consistent portfolio of services to customers throughout the Nordic region.

Interview data indicate that compared to uncertified colleagues with comparable work experience, Microsoft-certified IT professionals:

• Increased by 35 percent the sales of large, complex consulting engagements that they implemented over a two-year period.

• Delivered projects on time 20 percent more often.

• Reduced network problem identification and resolution time by an average of 15 percent.

Business Situation

Since its founding in 1968, Ementor has answered marketplace challenges by developing the expertise of company consultants and transforming intellectual capital into effective, customer-focused services. This approach has helped Ementor generate healthy earnings, become a member of the Oslo Stock Exchange, and evolve into the Nordic region's premier provider of business, IT infrastructure, and operational solutions.

Ementor's vigorous growth is due in part to recent mergers and acquisitions. The region's only company to achieve Microsoft® Certified Gold Partner status in five competencies, Ementor uses standardized processes and company-wide knowledge transfer to develop an integrated, up-to-date portfolio of IT and business offerings that are consistent throughout the Nordic region.

Business Solution

When Ementor certifies consultants who use Microsoft software, they take advantage of:

• Performance-based testing for real-world skills. Ementor provides Microsoft certification tests for relevant job skills by having individuals strive to achieve real-world goals in simulated technical environments. In turn, individuals gain confidence from the proven ability to execute critical tasks. As a result, simulated environments better reflect problem solving in the real world, and candidates perform tasks rather than just answer questions about them.

• Ongoing development of IT expertise. Standardized certification content and procedures give Ementor consultants ongoing access to and hands-on experience with Microsoft software. Making Microsoft certification part of Ementor's in-house career development promotes consultants' confidence and motivation to work with new technologies and more complex projects.

• Membership in a global network of respected IT professionals. Microsoft certification also inspires greater confidence in many Ementor customers, who recognize and explicitly ask for the services of certified consultants.

“Only companies that have the resources to develop and retain technical expertise will be competitive in the future. Microsoft certification is a very effective way to develop this expertise.”
John Henrik Andersen
Business Manager
Microsoft Relations & Technology
Ementor
 

Ementor Uses Certification to Cement Customer Relationships

Developing the skills of consultants and matching those skills to customer requirements are the most important methods that Ementor uses to create and maintain solid customer relationships. Ementor managers base action plans and improvement projects on the results of annual customer satisfaction surveys. An interview with John Henrik Andersen, Business Manager of Microsoft Relations and Technology at Ementor, indicates that its standing with customers, vendors, and partners depends directly on the number and level of certifications of company consultants.

“Microsoft certification convinces customers that we use the most competent consultants available and contributes to a 35 percent increase in sales over a 2-year period.”
John Henrik Andersen
Business Manager
Microsoft Relations & Technology
Ementor

Ementor uses certification as a strategic tool to show that company consultants have the competence to successfully complete even the largest and most complex projects. Ementor's 350 dedicated Microsoft consultants include 150 Microsoft Certified Professionals, 75 Microsoft Certified Software Engineers, and 25 Microsoft Certified Solution Developers in Microsoft .NET connection software; another 50 are preparing for certification. Interview data indicate that compared to uncertified Ementor consultants with comparable work experience, Microsoft-certified consultants:

• Deliver projects that generate higher customer satisfaction. In large, more complex solutions, customers tend to be more satisfied when projects include Microsoft-certified consultants.

• Solve project-related problems more quickly. Ementor consultants report that Microsoft certification training helped them solve problems in a more structured way, which resulted in an average 15 percent reduction in problem resolution time.

• Deliver projects on time more often. In company projects, consultants with Microsoft certifications are 20 percent more likely to complete projects on time.

• Execute solutions better tailored to customer requirements. The ability to identify problems, solution requirements, and IT components that are right for each job enabled Microsoft-certified consultants to execute work more quickly and precisely than uncertified colleagues.

Andersen remarks, "The extra skills and experience that Microsoft-certified consultants possess lead to more satisfied customers, repeat business, and better margins. Bidding for complex consulting engagements requires that deep IT expertise. Microsoft certification convinces customers that we use the most competent consultants available and contributes to a 35 percent increase in sales over a 2-year period."

Microsoft Certification Complements Ementor's Knowledge-based Culture

To develop a consistent, integrated portfolio of offerings, Ementor manages IT certification and recertification within a system of established, company-wide programs. These programs include the Ementor Academy and the ShareIT database, which matches the skills of company consultants to specific project requirements.

Microsoft certification provides an efficient, standardized learning environment that fits easily into Ementor's knowledge-based culture.

Third-party surveys indicate that Microsoft certification helps company consultants learn as much in an average of 17 hours per work week as they learned in an average of 28 hours per work week in self-study, a 40 percent improvement. The standardized content of Microsoft training also helps ensure that consultants learn all the skills they need for competence and that the company can offer more consistent services throughout the region.

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INS Uses Microsoft Certification to Increase Revenue and Business Opportunities

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Santa Clara, California-based International Network Services
(INS), a leading global IT consultancy, provides Fortune 1000 customers with software and end-to-end IT planning, infrastructure, and systems management services. A Microsoft Certified Gold Partner, INS operates from 37 offices in North America, the European Union, and Asia. Microsoft certification helps International Network Services (INS) expand company revenues by increasing the value of the services it offers. Certification also helps INS increase its customer base and reduce the project and technology risk of its engagements.

Specific benefits include:

• Microsoft-certified consultants generate revenues that average U.S.$18,000 more per consultant per year than uncertified consultants.

• INS can charge an average of 10 to 20 percent higher hourly rates for Microsoft-certified consultants with real-world experience.

• Certified consultants deliver solutions an average of 10 to 15 percent faster than uncertified colleagues.

Business Situation

As a global provider of sophisticated IT implementation and management solutions, International Network Services (INS) operates in a business environment characterized by fierce competition and constant change.

Improvements in IT enable INS to provide customers with increasingly powerful solutions. However, these enhanced IT capabilities require INS to manage increasingly complex projects and constantly enhance the company's primary asset—the IT-related skills, knowledge, and experience of INS consultants.

Since 1999, when INS first became a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, the company has recognized that certifying IT professionals is a powerful way to maximize the return on IT and intellectual capital. INS optimizes the returns on these assets by making Microsoft certification an integral part of company-wide business and professional development planning.

The Microsoft Certified Professional program is the most efficient way we can develop IT expertise, build our business, and optimize the value of our Microsoft platforms and partnership."

“We value Microsoft certification because it provides a comprehensive, cost-effective framework, in which we can convert our IT expertise into more effective solutions and a stronger business.”
Jeff Hooper
Chief Information Officer
International Network Services

Business Solution

INS uses these aspects of Microsoft certification to grow its business and develop the intellectual capital of company consultants:

• Performance-based testing in a broad range of technologies. Microsoft certification tests for relevant job skills by having individuals achieve real-world goals in simulated technical environments. In these environments, individuals gain confidence from their proven ability to execute critical tasks. As a result, simulated environments better reflect problem solving in the real world, candidates perform tasks rather than just answer questions about them, and practice for the exam is transformed into hands-on experience.

• Ongoing development of IT expertise. Certification gives INS consultants ready access to and hands-on experience with the newest Microsoft technologies and established software. Making certification an ongoing part of the INS professional development program promotes consultants' confidence and motivation to work with new technologies and enables the company to engage in larger, more complex projects.

Comprehensive Program Helps INS Build a Stronger Business

INS uses the advantages of Microsoft certification to bring product and service offerings to market more quickly and increase its customer base.

Increased revenues. One-third of INS customers prefer to work with certified consultants. Many of these customers are willing to pay premiums of up to U.S.$10 per hour for certified consultants and up to $50 per hour for certified Microsoft security specialists with security expertise in several knowledge domains. Carol Sams, Vice President for Partners and Alliances at INS, comments, "Confidence in—and demand for—certification translate into annual billings that average $18,000 more per Microsoft-certified INS consultant than those of uncertified consultants."

Faster delivery of solutions based on new technologies. Microsoft certification gives INS consultants access to the newest Microsoft software, which often enables the company to be the first to market with products and services based on new IT.

New business opportunities. About 20 percent of INS revenues come from products and services based on new IT. Expanding consultant competencies in the newest Microsoft software enables INS to offer customers a steady stream of new products and services based on new software such as Microsoft Operations Manager 2005, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 communication and collaboration server, and the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating system, components of Microsoft Windows Server System integrated server software.

Carol Sams continues, "About 35 percent of customers submitting requests for proposals [RFPs] ask us for the number and types of certified IT professionals that would engage in their project. More than 50 percent of our Microsoft-based projects are closed on the strength of consultant certification. Microsoft certification enables us to expand our clientele by responding to RFPs that require certified IT professionals."

IT Expertise Reduces Project Risk

Of the company's 160 Microsoft-focused consultants, more than 100 are certified as Microsoft Certified Software Engineers, Microsoft Certified Solution Developers, and certified Internet specialists.

Microsoft certification performance-based testing challenges INS consultants to acquire and demonstrate the deeper knowledge and experience they need to plan, implement, and manage more complex solutions.

“More than 50 percent of our Microsoft-based projects are closed on the strength of consultant certification.”
Carol Sams
Vice President
Partners and Alliances
International Network Services

Carol Sams explains, "On projects, Microsoft certification helps to improve efficiency and margins by enabling our consultants to plan solutions more efficiently and complete projects with less time, effort, and rework."

Jeff Hooper, Chief Information Officer at INS, concludes, "The Microsoft certification process challenges our consultants to focus on new technologies, use established IT more creatively, and to engage in a culture of continuous improvement. We value Microsoft certification because it provides a comprehensive, cost-effective framework, in which we can convert our IT expertise into more effective solutions and a stronger business."

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Expertise of Certified IT Professionals Cements Siemens Customer Relationships

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The 4,000 employees of Hamburg-based Siemens Telecommunications Services, a business unit of Siemens AG, produce innovative, high-quality telecommunications products and solutions for customers in more than 160 countries.  Siemens Telecommunications Services Gmbh is dedicated to providing customers with the highest level of customer service and product support. Siemens uses Microsoft certification to maintain high quality standards and to assure customers that their products will run smoothly with Microsoft software.

Interview data indicates that Microsoft certification helps Siemens:

• Avoid after-hire training costs worth an average of €10,000 per employee.

• Close sales that would have been lost without the quality assurance of certification.

• Avoid salary costs averaging €25,000 per uncertified employee that are incurred while uncertified technicians become productive.

• Decrease installation time of Siemens and Microsoft software by an average of 15 percent.

Business Situation

Siemens Telecommunications Services Gmbh applies the wide-ranging expertise of its IT professionals to all types of communications technology for a knowledgeable and demanding clientele.

The company uses quality assurance to increase sales and maintain solid customer relationships. Many Siemens products and services support the Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, and Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0 operating systems, all part of Microsoft Windows Server System integrated server software, and a wide variety of client productivity and line-of-business applications. Microsoft certification of Siemens IT professionals assures customers that Siemens products will run smoothly and successfully with Microsoft technology.

“Hiring Microsoft–certified candidates who can add value to our operations right away helps us avoid training and salary costs that average €10,000 per employee.”
Jörn Reichelt
Supervisor
Siemens Telecommunications Services

Business Solution

Three aspects of Microsoft certification enable Siemens Telecommunications Services to deliver high-quality, customer-focused products and services. These include:

• An emphasis on performance. The Microsoft Certified Professional program tests for relevant job skills by having individuals strive to achieve real-world goals in simulated technical environments. In turn, individuals gain confidence from their proven ability to execute critical tasks.
  As a result, simulated environments better reflect problem solving in the real world, candidates perform tasks rather than just answer questions about them, and practice for the exam is transformed into hands-on experience.

• Ongoing development of IT expertise. Standardized certification content and procedures give Siemens consultants ongoing access to and hands-on experience with Microsoft software. Making Microsoft certification part of Siemens in-house career development promotes consultants' confidence and motivation to work with new technologies and larger, more complex projects.

• Membership in a global network of respected professionals. Microsoft certification gives Siemens IT professionals experience with Microsoft software, which is used, valued, and respected by IT professionals and customers around the world.

Benefits

Of the 48 members on the IT staff of Siemens Telecommunications Services, about 20 are Microsoft certified. (Seven are Microsoft Certified Software Engineers, and 13 are Microsoft Certified Systems Administrators. Nearly all of the company's IT professionals will be certified within several years.)

By helping Siemens Telecommunications Services meet customer expectations, Microsoft certification helps the company to achieve these benefits:

• Lower startup costs for new hires. By hiring Microsoft-certified software and support engineers rather than uncertified IT professionals, Siemens doesn't have to wait for new hires to contribute to the bottom line. Jörn Reichelt, Supervisor at Siemens Telecommunications Services, remarks, "Hiring Microsoft–certified candidates who can add value to our operations right away helps us avoid training and salary costs that average €10,000 per employee."

• Deeper IT expertise with less experience. Siemens also reports that to perform at levels comparable with Microsoft-certified professionals, uncertified trainees who use on-the-job training, self-study, and Internet research require about twice as much project experience.

• Reduced opportunity costs. For Siemens customers, certification is an important indicator of product quality. Approximately 50 percent of Microsoft-based project requests for proposal that Siemens receives require that certified engineers implement proposed IT solutions. By hiring and training Microsoft-certified professionals, Siemens closes sales that would have been lost without the quality assurance of certification.

• Faster, more efficient software installation. Siemens often deploys sophisticated IT solutions that are difficult to implement without specialized training. Compared to uncertified colleagues with similar experience, Microsoft-certified IT professionals tend to add new technologies into their solutions sooner and install IT solutions 15 percent more quickly. The result—customers get the advantage of solutions and technologies that come to market more quickly.

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