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| | | | Since 2000, Celenia Software has worked with development and support of the ERP systems Dynamics NAV and AX in a steady partnership with Microsoft. A close and long-lived relationship based on trust and confidentiality – and in rapid growth. | | | 
Even though both Kim Ibfelt and Mogens Elsberg mention trust and teamwork independently of each other several times during the conversation, they both look surprised when questioned about it directly:
“But of course. This is one hundred percent about mutual trust and loyalty. Without that, it would not work at all. A close, trusting relationship and loyalty is crucial for the process we have with Celenia,” said Director of Program Management at Microsoft Development Center Copenhagen (MDCC), Kim Ibfelt.
Since the turn of the millennium, Microsoft and Celenia have worked together on development and maintenance of parts of the ERP products Microsoft Dynamics NAV and AX.
“Obviously, we sign a contract, but afterwards we file it away and do not look at it again. A partnership with the contract on the table would not work. The intention must be a long-lived collaboration. We are dependent on one another and it is a matter of course that Celenia attends development meetings and that sort of thing as if they were a part of us,” added General Manager Mogens Elsberg and continued:
“It is crucial that the partnership is painless. And it is. In many ways, we work seamlessly, as if Celenia were just a team sitting around the corner from us.”
The largest external developer
Celenia was already a well-establish developer for the Danish company Navision when Microsoft took over the business and the ERP-systems Navision, Axapta and Concorde C5 in the spring of 2002.
Today, MDCC in Vedbaek, which is located north of Copenhagen, is Microsoft second largest development center after the company headquarters in Redmond, USA.
Since then, the partnership and the extent of Celenia’s development tasks for Microsoft have sky-rocketed. Today, more than a hundred of Celenia’s developers work exclusively on Microsoft projects.
Celenia has become the largest external provider of man hours for Microsoft’s ERP systems. Among other things, Celenia has developed the CRM module in Microsoft Dynamics NAV from scratch.
Mogens Elsberg emphasizes that Microsoft gains from the partnership with Celenia on three fronts: 1. It expands Microsoft’s own development division, 2. It helps Celenia sell to Microsoft Partners, 3. Celenia supports the partners by handling development and maintenance tasks.
“The problem for the partners is that they cannot get enough qualified staff. When Celenia helps the partners with tedious upgrade projects – without even being visible to the partners’ customers – they help both the partners and us by increasing the capacity in the channel,” explained Mogens Elsberg.
Celenia understands the process
Over the years, Celenia has built up a development center in Ukraine, a constellation which gives Microsoft access to the lacking resource in the IT industry: Qualified staff at a competitive price. But this is not the full explanation for the close-knit marriage between Microsoft and Celenia.
“Development competences alone, we could find elsewhere. But Celenia also understands the business area and the development process. Outsourcing to foreign countries looks easy in a PowerPoint presentation. But if you ask those who have tried it, the error rate is tremendously high,” said Mogens Elsberg.
“This is one of the few outsourcing partnerships that just work. The explanation is probably that we already had a well-functioning partnership. And Celenia did the hard work building the interface to Ukraine – and did not expose it to us until it worked,“ Kim Ibfelt added.
Over the years, Microsoft and Celenia have adjusted their organizations to make them work together closely and harmoniously.
“Celenia has done a great job building a solid organization that we can trust. For instance, they have put a lot of effort into meeting our security demands. Bear in mind that we give Celenia’s people access to parts of our source code,” said Kim Ibfeldt.
“Naturally, we still need to meet face to face occasionally – face time, as the Americans call it. But it is not often and with anyone other than Celenia it would have to be a lot more often,” adds Mogens Elsberg.
Links | | About Microsoft and Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft was founded in USA 1975 by William H. Gates and Paul Allen. Microsoft researches, develops and sells software and hardware for institutions, organizations and companies typically via partners as well as private users via a dealer network. The headquarters of Microsoft is placed in Redmond, a Seattle suburb in the state of Washington, USA. Today, Microsoft is a global company, with more than 50,000 employees in more than 80 countries and regions.
Microsoft Dynamics - formerly Microsoft Business Solutions - is a line of products that automate and help improve financial, customer relationship, and supply chain management via products like Axapta, Navision and Microsoft CRM. Delivered through a network of Microsoft partners, these integrated, adaptable solutions work like and with familiar Microsoft software to streamline processes across an entire business. Today, there are more than 260,000 global customers, distributed by 4,500 partners in more than 130 countries. | | .jpg) | |  |  |
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Speedy delivery and unexpected advantages
Independent software vendor Elva Baltic from Latvia received value for money when they sourced a team from Celenia to write user documentation for their IT system aimed at the car industry. In addition to the documentation, Elva Baltic received specific suggestions for improving the product. Celenia’s feedback has turbocharged Elva Baltic’s plans for getting their product Microsoft certified. >> Read testimonial >> Celenia ISV Services
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