OP Financial Group, which invests strongly in emerging technologies, is currently redesigning its customer relationship management (CRM) system with Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM at the core of the new solution. The aim is to design a shared, Group-wide platform that can be used by all of OP's business units. 

Over the years, Microsoft's extensive product family has been a trusted partner for OP, one of the largest software firms in Finland. Innovative development work is carried out across the entire organisation and, in addition to Dynamics, OP will also make extensive use of the capabilities offered by the Power Platform. Azure is also an integral part of the development of the CRM system and an increasingly essential component of OP Financial Group’s systems as more sustainable solutions are developed through cloud migration. The advantages of the chosen technology include the familiarity of the products, their compatibility and that they are being continuously developed. 

"Microsoft products have undergone rapid development in recent years and the wide range of available products opens up opportunities for benefiting from the synergies offered by the various products," says Eero Mikkola, Senior Product Owner in charge of the CRM project. 

Sustainable and efficient development using the entire Microsoft ecosystem 

Microsoft is constantly updating its products which makes progress on the CRM project significantly easier. The development work makes use of the basic or out-of-the-box capabilities of Dynamics, these in turn ensure the seamless delivery of updates. This also frees up time for developers to focus on business and process-oriented cooperation and the building of efficient solutions. 

"At the Group level, our task is to ensure that each business unit is able to get the most out of the customer relationship management system. The purpose of use between business units varies significantly but there are also many similarities in requirements, in areas such as creating new customers, sending out offers, task management and customer care, for example. By understanding the needs of the different business units we can design shared capabilities effectively and simultaneously for several different units," Eero explains. 

The products of Microsoft's ecosystem play an important role in the development of the CRM system. Azure enables possibilities such as the development of integration capabilities and the creation of business services and channel-independent applications.  

"Azure is a cloud technology in which OP is investing heavily. In a constantly and rapidly changing world, shared solutions from infrastructure to application architecture give us the ability to respond quickly and to develop sustainably," Eero adds. 

The low-code, no-code and automation capabilities of the Power Platform enable fast and low-threshold development in the employee channel. Application and automation development supports business processes, the resolution of individual use cases and improvements in the workplace experience of employees, without forgetting high-quality reporting.  

"The combination of Dynamics, the Power Platform and Azure enables seamless customer encounters and efficient services," Eero summarises. 

 The best results are achieved through a combination of expertise and investment in people 

At OP Financial Group, the D365 CRM system is being actively developed by a group of software and specification developers, specialists and employees of business units. 

"Designing an effective tool requires a broad range of views, which is why the development of Dynamics is being worked on collaboratively by several professionals. The best way to come up with new solutions is through a simultaneous understanding of the business, the end users’ needs and the technological capabilities. We believe that an optimal end result is achieved through dialogue, discussion and sparring between developers and users," Eero explains.   

Professionals from across all of OP have enthusiastically jumped on board with the development of Dynamics and the cloud solutions, regardless of background or business area. The introduction of new technologies enables continuous learning and the creation of individual career paths for OP employees, regardless of whether their area of expertise is IT or particular business processes. 

"The most important thing is not always what you can do, but how you can innovatively think about both the current state of operations and future ways of working. That's why we invest especially in people, in training opportunities and in envisioning what we could accomplish in the future with modern solutions and with a group of professionals working together across subjects," Eero states.